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Cinema icon Brigitte Bardot treated by emergency services following sudden breathing difficulties

The 88-year-old was at home in Saint-Tropez.
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1960s cinema icon Brigitte Bardot has been treated by emergency services after suffering difficulties with her breathing.

The 88-year-old reportedly suffered a heat-related respiratory illness.

(Image: Getty)

Bardot’s husband Bernard d’Ormale confirmed the news to Var-matin, telling the French publication that “it was around 9 a.m. when Brigitte had trouble breathing. [Her breathing was] harder than usual, but she didn’t lose consciousness.”

d’Ormale also shared that although emergency services were prompt in journey to the couple’s Saint-Tropez home, they initially arrived at the wrong address which prolonged Bardot’s breathing difficulties.

Emergency services reportedly stayed with the 88-year-old for a brief period of time, offering the Helen of Troy actress oxygen while they continued to monitor her condition.

Emergency services were called to Bardot’s famous ‘La Madrague’ residence on Wednesday morning.

(Image: Getty)

“Brigitte is recovering. She had a respiratory problem which required a visit to the Gassin Health Centre this morning for a check-up,” Bardot’s husband stated, adding that “her red blood cell count is a little low, and she will benefit from specific treatment.”

Bardot’s husband reassured reporters that despite the scare, Brigitte’s medical episode was likely to have been induced by the high temperatures in the South of France, with the region currently experiencing consecutive days of record-breaking temperatures.

Brigitte had also been reportedly complaining about the heat for several days prior to her incident.

“These high temperatures are very heavy for her and she avoids traveling as much as possible – even over a few meters,” d’Ormale stated, adding that “like all people of a certain age, she can no longer bear the heat.”

The French actress and singer remains one of the most iconic pop-culture personalities.

(Image: Getty)

The news of Bardot’s breathing difficulties comes just over two months since the actress released a handwritten letter responding to a false media report that claimed she was in intensive care following “serious respiratory failure.”

“I want to reassure everyone I’m doing very well. The press made a scandal with a malaise that happened to me in January and of which we make a fuss of today,” she shared on Twitter.

Since retiring from acting in 1973, Bardot has since dedicated her life to animal rights activism; establishing the Brigitte Bardot Foundation for the Welfare and Protection of Animals in 1986.

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