Pictures: Amanda Billing
It was a simple night watching TV at home on Valentine’s Day 2023 that changed actress and comedian Jess Loudon’s life forever. “I’m perennially and pathetically single, so I was watching something trashy to make me feel better about my appalling dating life,” recalls the Brokenwood Mysteries actress.
During an ad break, Jess, 44, reached to pick something up and when she stood up, her head collided hard with an overhead shelf. She felt immediate searing pain, followed by three hours of vomiting. In hindsight, she should’ve gone to A&E, but instead she went to bed, swallowing some Nurofen in the morning to help her through a day of teaching drama to children.
It took an after-work trip to the supermarket with a friend to realise something was seriously wrong. Jess’ pal was suspicious when she started staring at the ceiling in a trance, then began looking for pasta in the freezer section. A visit to the doctor confirmed a brain injury due to concussion.
“It was scary,” recalls Aussie- born, Auckland-based Jess. “I didn’t get out of bed for six days. I’d slur my words. I was dribbling like Homer Simpson and I couldn’t get my hand to open a jar. I had brain glitches, where I just shorted out. It was like when you’re driving a manual car and you get stuck between gears.”
Terrifyingly, there was a possibility she wouldn’t recover enough to act or teach again. But after four months, Jess slowly regained her strength and got back into regular life. Until she suffered a second concussion last September. While on set for a short film, she bumped her head on a kitchen cupboard. The bump shunted her brain from one side to the other.
“My health deteriorated significantly – it was worse than the first time,” tells Jess. “I couldn’t stand for long periods, I was losing my balance and I was in pain. It’s taken seven months to get back to being 90% normal. I couldn’t drive for longer than an hour and I wasn’t allowed to fly. It felt like COVID lockdown, but it was just me – everyone else was going on as usual.”
Some days felt very bleak, but Jess credits her friends for getting her through. She includes “amazing” Waikato primary school teacher Sandra Pace. Sandra is her co-star in the upcoming NZ International Comedy Festival show Yeah Nah Pavlova.
The pair met on Brokenwood, where Sandra, 41, was working as an extra, the pair chatting away during breaks in filming.
“I just thought she was another extra. I had no clue she had a main part as nurse Beth and was quite an accomplished actress,” giggles Sandra. She also experienced tough times, undergoing a hysterectomy in her early thirties after a diagnosis of cervical cancer.
“I’m one of the lucky ones – a walking advert for the importance of smear tests,” says British-born Sandra. “They found it early. The worst thing was telling my mum, who was back in London, over the phone. She cried a lot and then went quiet, which is unusual for Mum.
“Her initial response was, ‘Darling, do whatever you can – just don’t die.’ But when I told her I was getting a hysterectomy for the best chance of not having the cancer return, she said, ‘Oh, don’t be too rushed with that decision.’ I was like, ‘Mum, you’re not getting any grandkids, so let’s rule that out!’”
Looking for humour in every dark situation is important to Sandra. Her life motto has been to “find the funny” ever since an operation saw her confined to a wheelchair for a year at age 21.
“I chose to get leg-lengthening surgery because I was four-foot-nine [1.45m] and it sucked,” she tells. “It was something I needed to do for myself.”
Doctors operated on Sandra, breaking her legs in two places and fitting them with frames. They stretched her legs a little bit every day until she reached 1.55m.
“It felt like my bones were on fire and it was very sobering being in a wheelchair for a year,” she says. “But when you look at those bad times in your life and discover the hidden moments of humour, you can look back, laugh and create a better mindset.”
Nodding, Jess adds, “Like when I told my mum back in Australia that I was doing this upcoming show. She said, ‘Oh, great, now you can be an embarrassment in two countries.’ Funny is good – you can’t be a sensitive diva in my family!”
Jess and Sandra’s show Yeah Nah Pavlova is on in Auckland on 16 & 17 May. For tickets, visit comedyfestival.co.nz.
