Chuck Norris turns 84 on March 10th. The action hero will certainly spend his birthday with his wife. He has been married to her for over 25 years.
He was once the most feared opponent of numerous film villains and a source of inspiration for dozens of jokes. We’re talking about Chuck Norris, an action and martial arts hero from the very beginning, who is now celebrating his birthday on March 10th. For many decades, not only have millions of fans loyally stood by his side, but also his wife Gena O’Kelley.
The former model and the ex-karate world champion met in 1997. Less than twelve months later, the man who demanded everything from the legendary Bruce Lee in “The Way of the Dragon” proposed to Gena O’Kelley – regardless of the 23-year age difference. Including children’s blessings: the twins Dakota Alan and Danilee Kelly were born in 2001.
Everything seemed perfect. The children developed, the now 84-year-old Chuck Norris made it to the cinema again alongside Sylvester Stallone and Jason Statham with “The Expandables 2” and Gena O’Kelley enjoyed her life between shoots and the comfort of her own home. Until an incident in 2013.
“I felt like my body was on fire”
Gena O’Kelley, now 61, has rheumatoid arthritis, a chronic inflammation of the joints, which they wanted to analyze in more detail using an MRI scan. During this examination, a contrast agent containing the heavy metal gadolinium was injected. O’Kelley couldn’t excrete this in her urine – as usual – but instead it settled in her tissue: “Within a few hours after the first injection, I felt as if my whole body was on fire – as if acid had passed through It would have been passed through it. At first the burning was only isolated, but it continued to spread,” O’Kelley told the British newspaper Metro.
It was the beginning of an ordeal that resulted in a five-month stay in a private clinic. During this time, Chuck Norris stood by his wife 24 hours a day. He put his film career on hold at the time: “Chuck slept next to me on the couch and never left me alone. I prayed that I would survive and be able to raise my children,” O’Kelley told the British Daily Mail in November 2017.
Moments of enjoyment via social media
The bad symptoms were finally alleviated. The California native is now apparently doing better again. On Chuck Norris’ Instagram channel you can see pictures of Gena O’Kelley enjoying time with her husband and children.
Chuck Norris also seems full of energy again. The martial arts star is returning to the screen for the horror comedy film “Zombie Plane,” which will be released in 2024 – at the age of 83.