When Pamela Anderson was diagnosed with a then-incurable disease in the late 90s, her world turned upside down, imagining a future that she would never see.
At the height of her fame, Pamela contracted Hepatitis C after sharing tattoo needles with ex-husband Tommy Lee. While collecting the Award of Courage at the 2026 amfAR Venezia Gala, an AIDS charity, Pamela reflected on these harrowing years.
“There was no cure,” Pamela said. “It was a death sentence. That’s what my doctor told me, that I probably had around 10 years to live.”
She felt the diagnosis “corrupted” her decisions. Around this time, Pamela built a reputation as the blonde bombshell. But she also faced harsh scandals, a leaked sex tape, hyper-sexualisation by tabloid media, and turbulent relationships.
“It was not fear of death, but fear of what might happen to my young children. It turned my life inside out,” the 59-year-old continued. The Baywatch star shares two sons with Tommy: Brandon Thomas and Dylan Jagger, born in 1996 and 1997 respectively.
Pamela’s greatest fear never came to fruition. Despite the timeframe on her life, she lived for another ten years. Pamela was cured in 2015 – four years after a cure for Hepatitis C was discovered.
“I’ve been too busy, I think it really hasn’t even hit me yet, but it’s exciting because now I get 20 years back on my life,” she wrote on Instagram at the time. “They came up with a cure just recently, and you know Tommy was cured a year ago, I was cured just Friday.”
Treatment took every penny from Pamela.
“I was lucky. I was offered it in its early stages and it took everything I had in my bank to pay for it [because] it wasn’t covered by insurance yet,” her powerful speech continued.
“I’m not a victim, I’m a victor. I am strong and capable, more now than I could ever dream of. I’m not the damsel in distress, no matter how easy that role is to play.”
Grateful for the time she got back, Pamela told People she was going to ramp up her conservation efforts.
“People have to understand that climate change is a real thing and it’s the most important thing. I’m kicking it up a notch,” she said at the time. “That fact that I get more time on this earth – I am going to be a great shepherd of the earth.”
