Al Murray has revealed his daughter’s bravery growing up with hemiplegia.
The Pub Landlord comedian has opened up about 19-year-old Scarlett’s condition, which is a form of cerebral palsy affecting responses on one side of the body and shows itself over time.
Despite this, his daughter attended a mainstream school and remained strong despite bullies, as Al explained to the Daily Telegraph: "I was bullied myself [at Bedford School] and learnt to combat that with humour, but when it’s your own child, it’s terrible.
"We’re very proud of her. She has battled on – she’s always been very phlegmatic about it."
Al revealed that Scarlett – whom he shares with his ex-wife Amber Hargreaves along with daughter Willow – didn’t show any signs when she was born and later started talking, but the symptoms slowly revealed themselves.
He added: "She was a happy,healthy-looking baby who began to talk at the right time; she’s never had a slur to her speech. It wasn’t until she started to toddle at two that we noticed she had issues with her gait and her left hand, which she was clenching a lot."a
Although it hasn’t been easy for the family – who have faced a battle to get the care she needed as the condition differs with each individual – the 50-year-old star refused to complain about the impact on his own life.
He said: "The person under pressure when you’ve got this in your life is the child. Whatever else is going on, they’re the one having to deal with it. I try to be upbeat. I wouldn’t want to say ‘poor us’ because other people have it much, much tougher.
"At the moment Scarlett is independent – she’s now reading English at university. She’s very bright and has always taken the attitude that she’ll play to her strengths."
Al Murray reveals daughter has hemiplegia
