Holby City and Casualty star Amanda Mealing has been diagnosed with blood cancer, it’s been revealed, hours after it was revealed she’d admitted crashing her car into a nurse after taking drugs on a night out.
The 57-year-old actor, who played cardio thoracic consultant Connie Beauchamp in both shows, appeared in court under her married name, Amanda Sainsbury. The incident took place in January 2024, where Amanda suffered a cut head, a broken wrist and a broken clavicle.
Now, more details have come to light.
Amanda Mealing car crash following ‘careless’ drug-driving
Amanda crashed into Mark Le Sage‘s car at 10.14am while he was on his way to work.
She admitted to driving with cocaine in her system and without due care and attention. As a result, Amanda was banned from driving for 22 months and was forced to pay a £485 fine.
As reported by the Spalding & South Holland Voice, she had 18mcg of cocaine in her blood, despite the legal driving limit being 10mcg. Amanda also had an excess of 240mcg of benzoylecgonine, which is the chemical that cocaine leaves after being absorbed by the body. The amount was almost five times over the legal limit of 50mcg.
Prosecutor Marie Stace told the court that Mark recalled “an explosion and his car began to spin” after Amanda’s car crashed into his vehicle. The incident happened on the A1175 at Hop Pole, near Stamford in Lincolnshire.
She continued: “He started to panic, the car was full of smoke and he couldn’t get out because his foot was stuck under the pedal. He did get out and was assessed by a paramedic who said he needed to go to hospital.
“There was a witness following the Mini, who said he assumed there was something in the road because it went onto the other side of the carriageway.”
The prosecutor added that Amanda admitted in a police interview that she had taken cocaine the night before.
‘She should have known better’
Mark read out his victim impact statement in court. He said he hasn’t been able to continue his nursing job due to his fine motor skills being affected. Not only that, Mark is unable to pursue his hobby as a keyboard player in the local band Zebra. He is also not able to play water polo any more.
She says herself that she should have known better.
Health-wise, Mark has continuous problems with his sight and hearing. He also suffers from constant pain in his legs, neck, shoulder, back and hip. Tragically, flashbacks about the crash keep reminding him of the nightmare.
Amanda’s solicitor, Edward Lloyd, fired back and told the court he does not accept Mark’s list of injuries after he wasn’t taken to hospital by ambulance, claiming there’s no evidence.
‘Deeply ashamed’
After pleading guilty to drug driving “at the very first opportunity”, Edward said the incident is something Amanda is “deeply ashamed of”.
He continued: “She’s not somebody who takes drugs at all. Her brother died of a drugs overdose when he was 18. She says herself that she should have known better.”
Amanda’s health problems and crushing grief
The star’s legal team last night attempted to explain Amanda’s state of mind at the time of the incident.
Following the death of her father, her best friend and her dog, her solicitor said Amanda was going through a tough time. Amanda was also dealing with divorce proceedings and visited a friend where she took the drugs and stayed overnight. She is said to be “horrified about what happened” and “still is”.
Now it’s been revealed that Amanda is also battling blood cancer. The solicitor said: “Unfortunately it came at a terrible moment in her life. She tells me she was undergoing divorce proceedings from her husband, which was extremely upsetting.
“Within a short space of time her father had died, she had to put her dog down and her best friend had died. So all of these events occurred. It was deeply, deeply upsetting. She is, however, a lady who has significant health problems. She suffers from blood cancer, so she’s not working at the present time.”
The court also heard she was not currently working due to her blood cancer and was receiving a “token salary” of £935 a month from her employer.
Previous cancer battle
Amanda was 34 when she was diagnosed with breast cancer – just 24 hours after giving birth to her second son, Otis. At the time, her first son, Milo, was three years old.
Less than two weeks later, in August 2002, she’d had chemotherapy and a mastectomy.
“I was determined that cancer wasn’t going to take anything else from me,” Amanda said after getting the all-clear. “It might take a little bit of my time, a little bit of my health, but I wouldn’t let it interfere with any more of my life.”
She also told OK! in 2021: “When your life is in the balance, you lose your innocence. You can no longer pretend you’re immortal. It never leaves you entirely.”
Read more: Amanda Mealing on Paul O’Grady’s poignant final gift to her: ‘Now I’ll always have Paul with me’
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