Malaria is no laughing matter and these 5 celebrities have all contracted the deadly disease. Thankfully managing to pull through, these stars have had frightening experiences battling the insect-carried illness, some even coming close to death but luckily received great care that saved their lives.
Anderson was hospitalized in Kenya after contracting malaria on a trip after graduating high school. He now works with ‘Malaria No More’ to fight the deadly disease.
Cheryl was struck down with malaria on holiday and almost died: “It was the scariest thing you could ever imagine for me and for my friends and family. The pain I felt and went through, it’s what so many people go through, all because they don’t have a mosquito net which could save their life. I was lucky; I had the best care I could get. Some people are not so lucky. A £5 mosquito net could keep a child safe and really does help.”
George Clooney
George has had malaria twice: “I’ve had it twice. I guess the mosquito in Juba looked at me and thought I was the bar.”
Jeremy Piven
Jeremy managed to contract malaria while filming ‘PCU’ in 1994 despite the film being shot on location in America and Canada.
Rebel Wilson
Rebel was on a trip as a teen when she got malaria: “I was a youth ambassador for Australia and got to travel to rural Zimbabwe, Malawi and Mozambique, but while I was there I contracted malaria. They put me in intensive care, gave me a huge concoction of drugs. I started hallucinating that I was an actress as the Academy Awards and won… It was so vivid and real, when I recovered I knew I had to get back to Australia and start acting training. I did my law degree by day and studied acting at night, but people still thought my brain had been destroyed by malaria and that I was nuts!”
