The 'Doctor Strange' actor recalls falling extremely ill before pandemic and thinks he might have been the very first person who got coronavirus and caused the worldwide crisis.
- April 5, 2021
AceShowbiz - Benedict Cumberbatch fears he was a COVID-19 super-spreader after falling ill during a trip to South America, months before the pandemic shut down the planet.
The "Sherlock" actor thinks he might have been "patient zero" before the coronavirus started making headlines at the end of 2019.
"I was incredibly ill, to the point that when all this COVID stuff suddenly broke in the new year, I was thinking, 'Oh my God, was I actually patient zero?,' " the actor tells independent.co.uk. "I was so ill. It was borderline pneumonia."
But Benedict went over and above to help medics fight the pandemic, donating over $16,600 (£12,000) to fund hospital scrubs.
The generous star got in touch with Savile Row tailor Emma Willis after she launched her Style For Surgeons initiative back in April, 2020.
Emma, who previously fitted Benedict, 44, for his wedding shirt in 2015, said, "I got a call from him out of the blue saying, 'It's Benedict, I'm in New Zealand... I've heard about your Style For Surgeons and I would love to get involved. What can I do?' I said, 'We're aiming to raise £30,000 and we've got £12,000 more to raise to cover the cost of the fabric (for the scrubs), we're covering the cost of the making of them'. He said, 'Count it done', and transferred the rest of the money."
"He obviously felt a real need to support. We do ongoing work with him and there's also something in the pipeline. I think people, like Benedict, who use their influence and fame to support important causes are wonderful. They see how they can help people through their fame in such a positive way."
