SAVED BY THE BELL

AN actress from Henley has returned to the stage having credited her GP for saving her life.

Lottie Bell, who lives in New Street, was rushed to the Royal Berkshire Hospital last month with severe gynaecological pain.

The 26-year-old was found to have an ovarian torsion, caused by a 13cm sac of fluid on her fallopian tube.

Miss Bell, who has Polycystic Ovary Syndrome, had been having flu-like symptoms and shooting pains down her right leg for the month of October.

She attempted to manage the pain with painkillers as she was due to perform in the first showing of the play A Word, an intimate drama about friendship and denial.

But the night before her appearance at the Drayton Arms Theatre in London on November 9, the pain intensified and she was unable to find relief.

Miss Bell recalled: “I started to experience period-like pain but I knew I didn’t start my period for at least another week.

“Normally, I don’t really get pains beforehand, so I was very confused. It also felt a lot like when my appendix exploded.

“I knew something was wrong but I needed to get through the next performance.”

Miss Bell booked an appointment with Dr Nicole Doling, a partner at the Bell Surgery in Henley, the following day.

She said: “I decided to go to the doctors the next day and get some co-codamol to really numb the pain. Dr Doling was very serious and very concerned that I was going to go and do the show, particularly as I was crying and writhing in pain on the floor.”

Dr Doling, who qualified at Nottingham University in 2002 and moved to Oxfordshire six years later, said: “As soon as she phoned up, I knew that she was poorly, so I brought her down immediately and saw her straight away.

“Lottie was confused, completely pale and doubled over from the pain. She couldn’t even stand up straight and was limping and holding on to the wall to support herself as she walked in.”

Dr Doling insisted on transferring her to hospital straight away despite Miss Bell’s protests that she was needed on stage. She said: “I knew it was a gynaecological problem because she was experiencing acute abdomen pain, so I knew she needed a surgeon and quickly.

“She was in such a rush to get back to work, saying ‘I have to be on the train at 4pm to go back to London’, so I don’t think she was recognising how poorly she was and was just wanting to carry on.”

Miss Bell was taken to the accident and emergency department by her father, Graham Bell, the former Olympic skier and TV presenter. She woke up with three cannulas administering morphine after passing out in the waiting room before being seen to. Miss Bell recalled: “I remember waking up in hospital and even though the morphine was travelling around my body, I could still feel the burning, stabbing pain that was travelling down my leg.

“They found a 13cm cyst which was twisting one of my fallopian tubes and if it wasn’t removed, I might have died and there was also a chance that I could have got sepsis if my immune system could not fight it off.

“I’m just so thankful to Dr Doling for saving my ovary and my life and persisting with me going to the hospital.”

Miss Bell, a former Gillotts School pupil, said she had been reluctant to seek further medical help so as not to let the cast down.

She said: “I didn’t have an understudy and everyone would have lost their money. The director cancelled the show, saying I needed to look after my health and rest.”

Miss Bell is still experiencing discomfort following the surgery but returned to the stage last Friday for the first of five shows of Potted Potter, a double Olivier-nominated play, at the Jersey Royal Opera House.

She said: “It’s a very chaotic, energised show, so I was quite worried I wouldn’t be able to do it because I’ve still got pain and some bleeding from the stitches but I’m pushing through. I did have an understudy this time around, just in case.

“I’ve been trying to take the doctor’s orders as seriously as I can but there’s a lot of running around and doing wild dancing things in the show, so I’ll see how I get on. Patience is required in this process and that’s what I’ve taken away from this whole experience.”

Miss Bell lives with her father and mother Sarah, who works as a librarian at The Henley College, and brother Louis, 32, who works at Waitrose in Henley.

In 2011, she landed the role of Dorinda Lane in a BBC remake of Just William aged 11 following her first ever audition and has gone on to appear in Tea + Cake (2015) and Leo’s Love Life (2023).

Miss Bell advises others not to prioritise their career over health concerns.

She added: “In your twenties, your work and career take over you and your health gets pushed to the side. When doctors listen to you and give advice, don’t ignore it. Trust your doctor.”