Jo O’Meara has opened up on her recent back surgery (Picture: REX/Instagram/@joomeara)
S Club 7 singer Jo O’Meara has been warned by doctors she may ‘never return to her old ways’ after undergoing four back surgeries.
The 43-year-old fears she will never be able to dance on stage again after a horror injury led to her needing the operations.
Jo – who found fame in the pop group in 1999 – had part of a disc in her back removed after waking up in so much pain she thought she had been shot in November.
Speaking to The Sun, the Don’t Stop Movin’ hitmaker said she thought she was ‘having a convulsion’ as her ‘whole body went into shock’.
She continued: ‘The very first thing I did was call an ambulance. I was sobbing and shaking. They came running in but I couldn’t move. Every time I tried to get off the bed I was screaming and sobbing in pain.’
Following surgery, Jo was left reliant on pain medication including morphine and 10 co-codamol tablets a day, but they provided little relief.
Jo fears she may never perform again due to her surgery (Picture: Lorne Thomson/Redferns)
Rachel Stevens’ former bandmate has been left with permanent damage to her right leg and fears she may never return to the stage as surgeons have warned her dancing may not be possible.
‘The surgeons said there was a very good chance of permanent damage to the legs and that I might never dance again,’ she said.
‘I was thinking, “Well that’s me done then,” because standing up on stage and singing Reach is kind of impossible if you can’t move.’
The singer has kept her fans updated during her surgeries (Picture: Instagram/@joomeara)
Following the band’s split in 2003 and brief reunion in 2015, Jo has made a career from gigging at various Pride and festival events across the country, with fans still eager to see the pop icon perform.
But she has been forced to cancel and reschedule a number of gigs and is unsure when she will be able to perform again.
She said: ‘I don’t know when it’s going to be, though, because to be on stage, you are dancing around and you are moving.
Jo also suffered back injuries during S Club 7’s heyday (Picture: Ilpo Musto/Shutterstock)
‘I couldn’t think of anything worse than going on stage in flat shoes. I can only hit high notes when I’m wearing a heel. It’s a psychological thing.’
Jo has a history of back problems and was forced to pull out of a number of events during the height of S Club’s fame.
‘I knew the feeling but it was ten times worse than what I’ve had before,’ she said of her recent injury.
‘Back surgery is so complex and every time they go in, they’re just weakening my back. I was absolutely petrified.’
Jo believes her recent anguish began during a health kick last year where she was trampolining every day, which she thinks led to the four bulging discs in her spine which then starting rubbing against her sciatic nerve.