Helena Fürst suffers from brain tumor
Instead of the celebrity column this week, the story of a woman whose name is familiar to every reality TV fan: Helena Fürst. The well-known TV face has largely withdrawn from the public eye. Now Fürst reveals the reason for this for the first time.
"For God's sake, what does she look like? (...) What's happened to her face? (...) She's really gone off the deep end! (...) Why is she talking so funny? She must drink like a hole!"
Helena Fürst has heard plenty of mocking and contemptuous comments like these. But she has long since stopped being annoyed by them. The 49-year-old, who had her own show on RTL as the "Lawyer of the Poor" and became known to an audience of millions when she entered the "jungle camp" in 2016, was considered a guarantee for good ratings for many years thanks to her controversial and direct manner.
Helena Fürst polarizes and doesn't mince her words. She enjoys a certain cult status among reality TV fans and, at the latest since the arguments with her former camp inmate Thorsten Legat, has been regarded as someone who doesn't avoid any "confro".
In 2022, an audience of millions also watched on TV as Fürst jumped out of a helicopter in the reality TV format "Das große Promi-Büßen" and clashed with her fellow contestants on the show to such an extent that many viewers were quick to pass judgment. Fürst is annoying. Fürst doesn't deliver and ruins the mood. But the truth behind her appearance and the way she articulates herself is different from the prejudicial assumptions of the audience, which increasingly acts like a gladiator fight in ancient Rome.
Random finding after a routine MRI
Helena Fürst suffers from a brain tumor. The benign meningioma was discovered in 2020 during a routine MRI taken on the occasion of her planned participation in the TV format "Promiboxen". It was an incidental finding, as Fürst had not had any symptoms to date. However, this was soon to change. Shortly after the diagnosis, Helena Fürst complained of "lightning-like pain" in the right side of her body, as well as ringing in both ears.
One of the many medical reports that have since been published mentions a "meningioma with a clear mass on the brain stem". And also that the tumor had spread to the auditory canal and was continuing to "grow into it". According to the doctor's report, the "treatment of choice" would have been a surgical reduction of the tumor followed by individual radiotherapy of the remaining tumor. However, Helena Fürst decided against surgery, as the risks involved in operating on this particular area of the brain are too great. "No doctor could assure me that he would be able to remove even a part of the tumor from my head undamaged."
Fürst adds: "Unfortunately, surgery was not an option due to the location of the tumor. One small cut next to it and I would have been paraplegic or even dead." The risk of irreversible damage: unacceptable.
For months, the former jungle camper was dependent on cortisone because of the swelling in her brain. The swelling in her face, which many viewers attributed to increased alcohol consumption, is simply a consequence of the medication and brain swelling. The visual and speech disorders are a consequence of the pressure on various areas of the brain, including the trigeminal nerve. In simple terms, the direct effect of the growth is that the tumor puts pressure on areas that are responsible for all bodily functions: walking, speaking, seeing and hearing.
She is now much better thanks to individual therapy. She says she is confident and hopefully "lucky". It is important for her to make it clear that she is physically and not mentally ill, "although it was very stressful for me, especially after the diagnosis". However, Fürst is disappointed by former colleagues and supposed companions: "Some of them know that I have a brain tumor. They have expressed their dismay to me."
As soon as the cameras go on ...
Fürst continues in a calm voice: "I thought I had spoken to one or two of them. I thought we had buried the hatchet. But the industry," says the reality TV star, is "mendacious" and displays "hypocrisy and mendacity for clicks, reach and ratings", which she describes as "inhuman".
As soon as the cameras go on, nothing else counts, says Fürst about the behavior of former colleagues: "I make no secret of it. One of them, for example, is Matthias Mangiapane, who is also a contestant in the 2022 celebrity penance. He told me to my face that we were friends. But as soon as the camera was on, he literally stabbed me in the back and made fun of me. I still can't understand it."
Mangiapane is currently in the TV container of "Promi Big Brother" and is unable to comment on the accusations. However, her angry comments, which have been reported by a number of tabloids, are more understandable against this background. For example, when Fürst writes that she "still has a bone to pick" with her arch-enemy.
The celebrity magazine "InTouch" writes: "Not only does she call Matthias Mangiapane a "mobber", for Helena Fürst he is also "a completely fake snake". A Munich tabloid also quotes the trained business economist, who was released for blasphemy on primetime due to her looks: "My time of truth is coming!"
Fürst's tumor may not have disappeared, but it has shrunk considerably: "I'm incredibly grateful for that. There were days when the pressure was so bad that I thought my head would burst. I had immense difficulty speaking, severe paralysis at times and could barely see. I dealt with death and the fact that I might not survive. It was and is a tough battle that I will win for my daughter. I looked into the abyss. All the things I used to get upset about quickly seem small, almost ridiculous, when you're fighting for your life. People will always talk. I just want one thing: to get better. And maybe hold up a mirror to one or two hypocrites and finally clear up the injustices that have happened to me."
"Despite her health challenges, Helena Fürst continues to make appearances on entertainment shows, showcasing her resilience and inspiring other cancer survivors in the TV industry."
"In an effort to raise awareness about brain tumors and the challenges they bring, Helena Fürst has been using her platform in the entertainment world to advocate for better medical research and support for patients."
Source: www.ntv.de
