Australian actress and influencer Alea O’Shea has revealed she has been diagnosed with brain cancer after experiencing a series of unsettling symptoms while working overseas.
The 25-year-old shared the news with her followers on Monday in a candid, calmly delivered video filmed from her bed.
“This is a video I obviously thought I’d never have to make, but I’ve recently been diagnosed with brain cancer,” she told fans.
O’Shea, who made her screen debut on Home and Away at just 12, said she first noticed something was wrong “about six weeks ago” when her smile became uneven and she began struggling to speak clearly.
Although she’d had “a few migraines”, nothing felt “scary”- until she travelled to Los Angeles and suddenly lost feeling in two fingers.
The numbness then spread to her wrist and toe.
Believing it might be a pinched nerve, she visited a physiotherapist who “immediately realised it was beyond his scope” and sent her to get a brain scan.
A biopsy performed on her birthday on November 21 confirmed the devastating diagnosis.
“If there’s one thing I want anyone to take away from this video, it’s advocate for yourself,” O’Shea said.
“When something feels off even slightly, pay attention to it and find the right professionals who will take you seriously.”
Despite the confronting news, she kept her trademark humour.
“Can I flip you off? No. Thumbs up? No. Or hold things? No,” she quipped.
“But the good news is, where it is in my brain isn’t going to affect my personality. I’m still going to be as hilarious and have the gift of the yap.”
O’Shea said doctors have warned her she may face paralysis down the left side of her body after surgery and could lose her hair, but that she will continue to “show up as me every single day that I can”.
“I am genuinely so blessed to be so well supported, independent and able to keep doing what I love throughout this fight,” she said.
“And if it can bring some perspective, comfort or positivity to other people out there going through it … That’s all I could ever want.”
O’Shea is best known for playing Darcy Callahan on Home and Away between 2011 and 2014, and again from 2016 to 2017.
She has since appeared in US series such as Kung Fu and Sight Unseen, the indie film Through the Door, and upcoming features Memento Mori and the Australian horror film Dead Eyes.
Since posting her video, O’Shea’s comments section has been inundated with messages of support.
“Sending you so much love alea!” actress Mya Lowe wrote, while radio personality Josh Brubaker added: “Omg sending all the strength and support your way!!”
Home and Away alum Dan Ewing commented: “You got this chook!!!”
Actor Lincoln Younes told her: “A personality nothing could F with. So sorry you’ve been going through this lil sis. Life is insane.”
