In this year’s Celebrity Traitors, Ruth Codd might not have been one of the most prominent figures, but her journey was cut short when the Traitors eliminated her after she expressed doubts about Jonathan Ross.

Before stepping into the limelight, the 29-year-old actress faced significant challenges following a life-altering accident at the age of 15.

While playing soccer at school, Ruth suffered a fall that resulted in a broken leg. Unfortunately, the injury didn’t mend properly, leading to eight years of complications. At 23, she made the difficult decision to have her leg amputated.

Reflecting on the incident, Ruth once shared, “I was just fooling around in school and fell while playing soccer, which is ironic since I don’t even like the sport. It would have been more satisfying if it happened while doing something I loved, but no!”

On Wednesday, Ruth disclosed that she underwent an amputation below the knee on her second leg due to severe joint damage caused by years of relying on crutches.

The Midnight Club star confessed that medical professionals had informed her that her foot’s condition was “never going to improve,” making it increasingly challenging for her to work and perform.

Ruth rose to fame by chance after she gained a following on TikTok during Covid as she began making content on life as an amputee, injecting her sharp sense of humour to her videos.

In less than a year she had accumulating over 670,000 followers and millions of likes and caught the eyes of casting director and kickstarting her career in showbiz.

But where did it all begin for the actress and what did she have to overcome to hit the big time?

The tragic accident that changed Celebrity Traitors star Ruth Codd’s life forever as actress reveals she has had her second leg amputated just months after landing BBC’s biggest show 

The actress, 29, had her right leg amputated when she was 23 years old, following complications from an injury sustained eight years prior

Ruth was born in the coastal town of Wexford in Ireland and raised on a housing estate with her parents and younger brother Luke. 

Growing up she enjoyed horse riding, but this all changed when she was 15 and broke her leg while playing football. 

The injury never healed and Ruth spent years suffering through pain and ulcers before a further eight operations in her teens to remedy it. 

After a year or two of complications she realised she would be using the crutches for a long time. 

However, after eight years of complications, Ruth made the call to have her leg amputated for a better quality of life and some normality. 

She told the Irish Independent back in 2020: ‘I had to wear splints and a really heavy cage around my leg. My quality of life wasn’t good. I couldn’t work and it was affecting me day-to-day so I decided I would get it amputated.’ 

Ruth explained: ‘It only took me two days to learn how to walk again – I think because for the first time in eight or nine years I wasn’t in pain. 

‘It is like a massive weight off my shoulders. I took the step with the prosthetic and for the first time in years it wasn’t sore.’ 

She later told Sunday World in 2022: ‘I’m so stubborn I wouldn’t let anyone help me. It was just a little bit harder for me. But I still went to school, and went to college. I did as much as I could with what I had type of thing’

‘The year before I got it amputated, I was using the wheelchair a lot. I was in hospital pretty much most of the time, attached to IV antibiotics and I was just worn out, so I didn’t really have the energy to drag myself around.

Ruth rose to fame by chance after she gained a following on TikTok during Covid and began making content on life as an amputee, injecting her sharp sense of humour 

The star revealed she had the latest surgery to benefit her ‘quality of life’ after already having all her toes removed in 2021 due to the impact of using crutches for eight years 

Luckily since being fitted with her prosthetic, Ruth hasn’t had any problems with her leg and is able to walk on the prosthetic.  

Opening up about the amputation in an article for the Irish Examiner in 2022, Ruth wrote: ‘My whole life revolved around trying to heal my leg. For years, I didn’t see it getting any better. I was stuck in a really bad mindset and I was p****d off at life. When I made the decision to amputate it, things finally started to turn around. It was a relief. I could get on my life.’

She added: ‘If you’d have asked me a couple of years ago what scares me the most, it would have been getting left behind. 

‘When I was injured, I really felt like life was passing me by. I was scared of everyone moving on with their lives and forgetting about me but that didn’t happen.’

Yet Ruth’s health woes were far from over, and this week she revealed she has now had her second leg amputated.

The star revealed her reasons for the new surgery in an interview two weeks ago, admitting it was to benefit her ‘quality of life’ after already having all her toes removed in 2021 due to the impact of using crutches for eight years.

She said: ‘It’s just that this foot, I was on crutches for the bones of eight years and the way I used my crutches I was always kind of on my tippy toes, so the joints in my feet were destroyed by the end of the eight years. 

‘And it’s just kind of the same thing, it’s gone past the point where they can kind of do anything about it.

‘I’ve already had to have all my toes amputated. So I’ve no toes, so my foot looks like a little hamburger.’

Speaking on Under The Skin with Grace Neutral, she added: ‘With the second one, it’s just the same situation, it was just my quality of life, it’s never going to get any better from this point, they can only kind of stop it from getting worse, and the amount of health problems and stuff I’ve had in the last year. 

‘I haven’t let it stop me from doing anything. but I feel like it has hindered me and made my ability to do my job more difficult. And I’ve been through it once before, so I think with two prosthetics I’ll be pretty unstoppable.’

Discussing the recovery process she continued: ‘It’s like after you get your leg amputated, you spend about three or four days in hospital. 

She gained a following on TikTok, making videos on being an amputee. It was then that she was noticed by casting directors for Netflix’s Midnight Club to play the part of Anya

After starring in The Midnight Club she went on to work with Mike Flanagan once again on The Fall Of The House Of Usher in 2023 (pictured) 

‘I did the last time, just until they can get the pain under control. I had a nerve blocker the last time and it didn’t work, so when I woke up I was in loads of pain, but then they got it under control really quickly. So I was able to go home in three or four days.

‘They give you a month or a month and a half for the residual limb to heal [not being able to wear a prosthetic or do anything] that’s the hardest part of that, that’s what I found the last time, because you’re just kind of in bed, or yeah, you can’t do anything really. 

‘When I got home from hospital, everyone thinks it’d be really sore actually, wasn’t really for me. I know it’s not the same for everyone. For me, my surgeon must have just done quite a good job.’

Ruth took to her TikTok on Wednesday to let her fans know she’d had the same operation on her left leg six years later, using her typical hilarious humour to deliver the update.

Filming herself from her parent’s house, she addressed her followers: ‘Hi guys. So, I have some good news and some bad news.

‘Good news – we’ve had a full circle moment. I’m back making TikTok content in my parents’ house. Bad news – I can’t do it in front of that lovely blue floral wallpaper any more, due to the fact that that room is upstairs.

‘I’ve just had my second below-knee amputation. So, unfortunately, those facilities are not available to me at the current moment in time. So a lot to unpack there for everyone involved.’

Ruth has admitted her greatest strength is her sense of humour and she uses it to hide her emotions. 

Prior to acting the star was training to be a barber when the pandemic hit and she gained a following on TikTok, making videos on being an amputee as well as beauty hacks and comedic skits. 

It was then that she was noticed by casting directors for Netflix’s Midnight Club to play the part of Anya, a lower leg amputee. 

Despite having no professional acting experience, Ruth was invited to audition for the role and was propelled from the world of her bedroom filming for social media to a major Netflix set. 

After starring in The Midnight Club she went on to work with Mike Flanagan once again on The Fall Of The House Of Usher and has revealed how she hopes to always work with Mike after his support.

Ruth also starred in the live-action remake of How To Train Your Dragon as she entered the world of film with her role as Phlegma.