Wrexham star's wife praises Ryan Reynolds for helping her end "living nightmare"

10 December 2023 , 13:25

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Anthony Forde and his family with Wrexham co-owners Ryan Reynolds and Rob McElhenney (Image: Getty Images)

Ryan Reynolds helped Wrexham defender Anthony Forde and his wife Laura after she was diagnosed with a brain tumour - and the couple are forever grateful.

Just days after the couple's son Paddy was born, Laura went for a routine MRI Scan which found she had an inoperable brain tumour. A neurosurgeon told the couple the tumour was malignant and Laura could only have months to live.

"The neurologist told us it was inoperable and you have a timeline," she said in an interview with the Sunday Times. "We said then we didn't want to know how long. Paddy was four weeks old and I am being told basically that I may not see my son turn a year old."

Following Laura's diagnosis, the Hollywood actor spoke with the couple on FaceTime and helped them get a second opinion from a leading US neurosurgeon. "No word of a lie, I was planning my funeral as I was doing those night feeds," she added.

"I was crying silently. It was a really low time. A living nightmare. It was a very low time. In the first few months after giving birth, a woman is severely all over the place hormonally, not to mind getting this landed on me."

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The second neurosurgeon was much more optimistic about Laura's chances and, after she underwent a biopsy, the couple were delighted to find out six weeks later that the tumour was in fact benign and the initial diagnosis had been wrong.

"Emotionally, it was just a roller coaster," she continued. "I was initially in shock and disbelief. I was in such a vulnerable place that I felt I should be happier about this.

Forde's wife Laura was diagnosed with a brain tumour shortly after giving birth to their son (anthony_forde1 / Instagram)

"But I had just been through the worst seven weeks imaginable with my newborn baby. I have PTSD as a result. I am going to counselling. I am not ashamed to say that."

Laura's health still needs to closely monitored and the same neurosurgeon Reynolds got them in touch with has been doing just that, while the couple's story was covered on the Disney+ docuseries Welcome To Wrexham. "They are such normal people and there is not a chance that they would do this for publicity," Forde added.

"They don't need it. I remember saying to Ryan 'I can't thank you enough' and he said, 'People have helped me too.'"

Matthew Cooper