Reggie Bird has broken down in tears in the I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here jungle after revealing her son’s heartbreaking battle with an incurable illness.
I’m A Celebrity…Get Me Out Of Here star Reggie Bird has opened up about caring for her son with cystic fibrosis and says she “feels guilt” for his genetic disease.
The reality TV veteran, who is legally blind, shares a daughter and a son with second husband Dale Sorensen.
Sadly, Reggie’s son was diagnosed with the genetic disorder cystic fibrosis at four weeks old, and now requires daily medication to manage symptoms.
The disease impairs the normal clearance of mucus from the lungs and other organs and has no known cure, but the prognosis has steadily improved due to new medications.
On Sunday night’s episode of the Channel 10 series, Bird said she felt “guilt” over the possibility she passed along the genetic disorder to her son during an emotional sit down with her campmates.
“It is heart breaking and you feel guilty because you've given this disease to this little child and nothing they can do about it,” she told campmates Tina Provis and Matty J.
“I carried the gene and Dale, their dad carried the gene and that's how it comes about.
“But we both didn't know we carried the gene.
“We went to the specialist when he was four weeks old and she said, ‘he's got cystic fibrosis’ and I just burst in to tears.
“I have that guilt, but it is what it is. You know, I do my best to help him get through life.”
The mother-of-two shocked her campmates after revealing that Trikafta, a life-saving medication for her son’s disease, was not originally available through the government’s pharmaceutical benefits scheme.
“He takes his drug which he has been on for four years now - it has been a game changer - (but) the government kept rejecting it because it is $300,000 a year for the drug,” she said.
“What? How can the tablets cost that much?” a shocked Provis said.
“The company which makes this drug has got a hold on the patent,” Bird said.
“Even though he is a child, the government and the medical system wouldn't give it to him for free.
“Knowing there is something to help him, you feel helpless because it is so expensive.”
“People need it. That's disgusting,” Provis said.
“If you look at the profits of the company who made it, I'm sure the profits are through the roof,” campmate British TikTok star Max Balegde said.
Bird confirmed that the medication is now available through the PBS after she spent years battling for the scheme to cover the medication.
“It took years to get the drug on the pharmaceutical benefit scheme. I cried so much when that drug became available,” she said.
“He takes two in the morning and one at night.
“He takes about 30 tablets a day to keep him alive.
“It has given him an appetite and I don't have the battles any more of trying to feed him. He's now forever hungry. I just love it. I love him when I hear him say, ‘Mum, I'm hungry.’"
Bird’s emotional fireside chat comes after veteran actress Sigrid Thornton officially entered the jungle on Monday following weeks of speculation.
I’m A Celeb continues Monday at 7.30pm On Channel 10 And 10 Play.
