Pamela Anderson says hepatitis C was ‘death sentence’ that ‘took everything I had in my bank’

The “Baywatch” star said her doctor told her she had 10 years to live when she was diagnosed with the viral infection in the late 1990s.

Pamela Anderson said her doctor told her she had 10 years to live when she was diagnosed in the late 1990s with hepatitis C.

“It was a death sentence,” said Anderson.

But on Sunday, the actor whose breakout role on “Baywatch” turned her into an international star, was honored with amfAR’s Award of Courage at a gala in Venice, where she opened up about the diagnosis that upended her life. amfAR is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending HIV/AIDS; hepatitis C is frequently a co-infection with AIDS.

At the time of her diagnosis, there was no cure for hepatitis C, which is a viral infection that causes liver inflammation and potential long-term damage.

“I’m sure that colored and corrupted my decisions,” Anderson, 59, said. “It was not fear of death, but fear of what might happen to my young children. It turned my life inside out.”