Renata Capucci, a 49-year-old reporter for “Fantástico” (TV Globo), revealed that she was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease four years ago.
The journalist reported on the “That’s Cool” podcast that she decided to expose her battle against neurodegenerative disease “because it sucks to live with this secret.”
“It’s time, it’s my turn to free myself. Because living with this secret is bad. You feel like you’re living a fake life, because some part of you is, and you keep hiding the other part from others, in my case, most people, because I’m a public person. I was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease in October 2018, when I was 45. Today, I am 49 years old.
According to Renata Capucci, the diagnosis was made at the time she was involved in reality The musical “Popstar”, on TV Globo. At the time, she started limp and people asked her why, but she denied that she was limping.
“I’m starting to limp and people are saying to me: ‘Why are you limp, Renata?'” And I would say, ‘I’m not lame.’ I didn’t realize I was lame. Things didn’t change. And then at a certain point, in the middle of Popstar, after the sixth show, I was home and my arms rose on their own. And my husband, a doctor, Immediately after the show, he was taken to a hospital where he had a neurological emergency and was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. It fell like an anvil over my head.”
A disease characterized by tremors, muscle stiffness and slow movement, among others, Parkinson’s disease affects about 200,000 people in Brazil, according to data from the World Health Organization (WHO). Of the total number of people with the disease in the world, between 10% and 15% of patients are affected before the age of 50, as is the case with Capucci.
Currently, Renata says that she is “fine and happy”, and says that she does not want to become a “martyr”, does not feel “pity” for her, because she does not feel “weak” because of her illness.
“On the contrary, I’m proud of my trajectory. I’m proud of the way I’m facing this disease, because I’m having it head on today. I’ve been through all the stages, of depression, of denial. Today, I’m in stage five where I look at this disease in my face and say Parkinson, you have it, you don’t have me.” I do everything I can with exercise, with medication and live a positive life. “I feel happy despite everything.”
