Pamela Anderson recounts decade-long hepatitis C battle at Venice gala

Pamela Anderson spoke publicly about having hepatitis C for many years.

She was diagnosed in the late 1990s, when doctors did not yet have a cure.

She said she was told she might have only about 10 years to live.

Her biggest worry was what would happen to her young children.

Anderson also said the illness made her feel shame and guilt.

A cure became available in 2011, and she said she was declared free of the virus in 2015.

The treatment cost her all the money she had in her bank account.

At an amfAR event in Venice, she received an Award of Courage.

She said her work in the arts helped her turn the painful experience into something meaningful.