It started with a feeling of numbness in my left leg – and ended on the operating table in Hanover. RTL star Isabell Hertel (48) is now reporting on a shock diagnosis last fall – and the resulting break on “Unter Uns”, where she grew fond of fans as Ute Kiefer from the very beginning.
Hertel published a self-filmed video on Instagram in which she describes her suffering. So much in advance: The actress is already doing much better, even if she is still struggling with the after-effects of her operation.
What happened? Hertel in the Instagram video to her fans: “I told you in October and November last year that I had numbness in my left leg and it didn’t go away. Then I was completely on the MRI again, and then there was a not particularly funny accidental find. A tumor was found in the spinal cord. Benign, but he just pushed on his feet.”
One thing was clear: the tumor had to come out – on January 3, Hertel underwent the necessary surgery with a specialist in Hanover. Because, according to the actress in her video message: “If you hadn’t operated on it, it would most likely have ended in a wheelchair.” In an eight-hour operation, the tumor was then completely removed, Hertel continued.
After a total of three weeks in the clinic in Hanover, Hertel recovered with her parents, as she explains: “I had to learn a lot of things again. Because the spinal cord was touched during the operation, I now have sensory disturbances in both legs.” That’s why she still has to get used to climbing stairs again – and driving a car isn’t even an option yet.
Isabell Hertel plays Ute Kiefer in “Unter Uns”. In this scene she can be seen with Henning (played by Andreas Zimmermann). Photo: RTL / Kai Schulz
After all, she can give worried fans the all-clear regarding her long absence: “I didn’t stop with ‘Unter Uns’, I’ve been shooting again for a week and a half.”
After the start of the cult series in autumn 1994, Hertel got on a little later (February 1995) and is still part of the regular cast today. “Unter Uns” runs Mondays to Fridays on RTL and at any time in the stream RTL+.