Reality TV

Big Brother star Reggie’s brave battle

'I hope one day there will be a cure!’
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Former Big Brother winner Reggie Bird has been pictured on an outing with her son.

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The 45-year-old was taking her 10-year-old son Lucas, who suffers from cystic fibrosis, to a hospital appointment on the Gold Coast.

Reggie – who is now legally blind – won the third season of Big Brother Australia in 2003 and pocketed a whopping $250,000 cash.

Big Brother Reggie Bird
Reggie’s son Lucas has battled cystic fibrosis since birth and the former reality star opened up about his debilitating illness in 2018. (Credit: Getty)

She was working at a fish and chip shop in Cambridge, Tasmania, before appearing on the show and catapulted into stardom.

After her win, Reggie, who now goes by her married name Sorenson, suffered a series of health issues, including retinitis pigmentosa, which has made her legally blind, and a stroke in 2017.

What’s more, Reggie’s son Lucas has battled cystic fibrosis since birth and the former reality star opened up about his debilitating illness in 2018.

Big Brother Reggie Bird
Reggie – who is now legally blind – won the third season of Big Brother Australia in 2003 and pocketed a whopping $250,000 cash. (Credit: Getty)

Speaking during an interview on WHO’s celebrity podcast Who Are You? Reggie confessed that her Lucas’ condition was having a serious impact on his mental wellbeing.  

“Cystic fibrosis is a lung disease, but it effects the whole system,” Reggie said at the time.

“I have to give him physiotherapy every day – I just hope one day there will be a cure but at the moment it’s not looking like there will be.

Big Brother Reggie Bird
After her win, Reggie, who now goes by her married name Sorenson, suffered a series of health issues, including retinitis pigmentosa, which has made her legally blind. (Credit: Getty)

“A little 9-year-old saying they don’t want to live…it’s not good,” she added.

Reggie, who also has a daughter, Mia, 12, also opened up about losing her eyesight.

“I’m legally blind… I only have nine percent central vision. No peripheral vision, no night vision and I have cataracts as well,” she said.

For more, pick up the latest issue of New Idea. Out now!

New Idea
(Credit: New Idea)

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