‘I CONSIDER MYSELF EXTREMELY BLESSED'

TOM HANKS REFLECTS ON THE AGONISING BATTLE AGAINST COVID-19 HE AND HIS WIFE RITA FOUGHT AND HOW HE FEELS SO FORTUNATE FOR HIS GOOD HEALTH

- ADAM TANSWELL

Hollywood stars often seem invincible to us mere mortals. So it was something of a shock in March to hear that Tom Hanks and his wife Rita had been hospitalised by Covid-19 while the actor was working on the upcoming Baz Luhrmann movie Elvis in Australia.

The couple, who were quarantined in their rented Queensland home, recovered after nine traumatic days during which Tom’s bones “felt like they were made of soda crackers”. He has since revealed they suffered “very different” symptoms. While actress and singer Rita, 63, developed a high fever, headaches and lost her sense of smell and taste, Tom, 64, had “crippling, cracking body aches” and “bone-crushing fatigue”.

Although Tom lives with Type 2 diabetes and has a stent in his heart, he was pretty calm about the all too real prospect of death. “I’m not one who wakes up in the morning wondering if I’m going to see the end of the day or not,” he later said. “I’m pretty calm about that.”

Rita has had her own health battles, too, having undergone a bilateral mastectomy and reconstruction following a breast cancer diagnosis in 2015.

Tom – who is dad to Jumanji star Colin, 42, from his first marriage and shares sons Chet, 29, and Truman, 24, with Rita – still has no idea how or where they contracted the Covid-19 virus, but has now donated plasma for those in need and is an advocate for wearing face coverings, washing hands and practising social distancing. He chooses to wear a cotton bandana himself.

Despite his Twitter profile declaring “sometimes I’m in pretty good shape, other times I’m not”, the two-time Oscar winner is looking good for 64, and he’s been enjoying some birthday celebrations in the Greek islands with his wife of 32 years.