Some people decide to take time off work when a close family member contracts an illness that requires more attention and care. That’s exactly what happened to Chuck Norris, who decided to risk his successful career in showbiz to become his wife, Gena’s primary caretaker and supporter when she fell ill.
We love to share inspiring stories, so we invite you to read the story of Chuck Norris, an example of loyalty and love for his wife.
Renowned actor and martial arts expert Chuck Norris was a part of many Hollywood productions in which he played a tough, strong man, including Walker, Texas Ranger, which became a huge hit.
However, this former marine also has a completely different sentimental side, which he shows with his wife, the model Gena O’Kelly, with whom he has been married since 1998 and with whom he has 2 children.
In 2013, his wife was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. But before proceeding with 3 MRIs, a contrast medium was administered to improve the diagnostic value of medical images.
Unfortunately, as the days went by, Gena began to feel different and after a month, she began to feel a burning sensation in different parts of her body. “I was in the ER for 5 or 6 nights in a row and the symptoms were getting worse, the burning sensation kept spreading throughout my body,” Gena said.
Those emergency room visits were the first of many for the couple, due to the excruciating pain the woman was in. “When I arrived they asked me what was happening and I said I didn’t know, that I didn’t feel well, that I felt like I was burning as if I had acid inside my body,” she explained.
This is how 5 long months passed in which Gena’s life underwent a radical change, reaching the point of feeling so bad that she could not take care of herself.
The doctors ran various tests to find a diagnosis, from cancer to Parkinson’s to multiple sclerosis, while Gena also absorbed information. Then she reached a point where everything pointed to the same thing: poisoning by gadolinium, a toxic substance used as a contrast medium, which was administered to her before the MRI.
Gena confessed that after realizing this, she went to the hospital, told the doctors what she had found, and said that they needed to find a way to get the chemical out of her body as soon as possible as her life was in danger.
The answer was found in Reno, Nevada, through the use of alternative medicine, where Gena received a treatment that brought her back, albeit slowly, to life. “When we got there, she couldn’t swallow, so we had to feed her baby food down her esophagus,” was just one of many experiences the actor recounted in an interview.
Gena’s deteriorating health caused her to go through a waking nightmare, going from a very healthy and energetic person to being bedridden in a hospital. However, it was in these difficult times that her husband, Chuck, paid tribute to the promise made during their marriage: to be by her side in sickness and in health.
The actor decided to put his career on hold to become his beloved companion’s full-time caregiver, supporting her in her recovery process.
“My wonderful husband was lying on the couch next to me this whole time and even read 17 books to me,” Norris’s wife said. It was a difficult time for the family, but one that they managed to overcome thanks to the unity and mutual support.
“I gave up my film career to focus on Gena. I think this topic is very important,” Chuck said in an interview.
What do you think of people who are capable of doing something like that for their life partner? If you have a similar story you’d like to tell us, we’d love to hear about it in the comments.
Preview photo credit s_bukley / Depositphotos.com, babiradpicture/AndyKnoth/SIPA/Sipa Press Russia/East News
