star endured a decade of hospital visits after being born with a multitude of health issues.
The Thunder in the Mountains singer, 66, was born with a congenital spinal condition, intestinal deformities, shallow hip sockets, and legs of uneven length, reports .
Due to her conditions, Toyah revealed she had undergone sterilisation before the age of 30. Her health struggles also forced her to delay taking her O-levels by a year, as she required corrective surgery on her feet.
At 51, Toyah underwent further corrective surgery on her legs, which presented her with the daunting challenge of relearning how to walk. She recalled that it took her two months to regain her mobility.
Toyah Willcox was born with multiple health conditions (Image: PA)
In a previous interview on ‘In The Psychiatrist’s Chair’, Toyah shared: “I was very ill, and I was advised [to be sterilised]. Part of the things I was born with and I’ve got no idea what it was – means I have deformed intestines so I had a block in the intestines and it was pushing the womb out and causing severe infection in the ovaries”.
“The doctor said, ‘Well, we’ve got to clean your intestine out and we also advise that you’re sterilised because you’ve stated quite strongly that you don’t want children and it would protect the ovaries’.” She added: “I was very very poorly. It took quite a few years to get over it. “
Discussing her life-altering surgery, Toyah added: “When I was 51, because I was born with one leg just under 2 inches longer than the other, I had corrective surgery to make my legs the same length, but then I had to learn to walk again”.
The singer had to learn to walk again (Image: Guy Levy/BBC/PA)
Additionally, Toyah endured a hip replacement due to her right hip suffering from inflammation and only being supported by cartilage and muscle, which was causing her walking difficulties prior to the operation.
She explained: “I’ve had a titanium hip replacement and my leg shortened, so now it’s the same size as the other one. I no longer have to wear special shoes.”
In an interview with the Daily Mail that same year, Toyah disclosed: “In the past two years my right hip became a nightmare so I had a replacement. I had to use crutches and learn to walk again, but it transformed my life.”
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During an encounter in 2011, the artist suggested that she experienced “full mobility for the first time ever” following her surgeries.
Toyah also confessed that her physical conditions were affecting her performances on , particularly when tackling her debut dance the Tango: “You have to twist your body – it’s all about pivoting, which is something I’ve avoided for about 30 years.”
She admitted candidly to her dance partner Neil Jones: “Obviously, there’s gonna be moves you give me that my body is just gonna go ‘stop now’.”
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