For Ruby Rose, there was a sense of déjà vu about being surrounded by healthcare workers in SBS’ The Hospital: In the Deep End.
In 2019, the Batwoman and Orange is the New Black star’s life changed in an instant when a spinal injury on the set of Batwoman left her needed emergency surgery and facing the terrifying possibility of paralysis. The trauma was so profound that she later admitted her brain would “shut down” whenever she tried to speak about it.
Now, in SBS’s The Hospital: In the Deep End, Ruby returns to the environment that once saved her life. This time, with a goal to shine a light on the immense pressures facing Australia’s healthcare workers.
Here, Ruby, 39, sheds light on her horrific injuries as she pays tribute to healthcare workers and gives us an update on her anticipated memoir.
Were you nervous to be part of The Hospital: In the Deep End, considering you’ve had some serious incidents which required major surgery over the years?
I understand that I should fear them and that they are usually a sign of a bad situation. But hospitals have provided me with so much genuine safety and care that I see them as magical healing centres, not scary buildings. Perhaps the time spent volunteering at them helped. Though it’s no secret that I broke my neck, back and ribs a few years ago, I would have signed up for the show, just as quickly, if it were offered to me prior, because my adoration of healthcare workers existed long before.
In the show, you talk about undergoing emergency surgery for stunt injuries suffered in 2019 that could have left you paralysed. What are your memories of being in hospital?
2019 was so traumatic that my brain would literally shut down and turn off when I tried to talk about it. The memories around it were so bad that I had to put myself into a trauma facility for three months in 2021, so I could learn how to talk about what happened without fainting. It was a horrendous injury, and I was so very alone throughout the whole experience. I walked into the hospital alone and I walked out alone. But the entire time I was in their care, I was safe and loved.
What kind of personal impact did filming The Hospital have on you? Were there moments when you had to step away?
Between you and me, I had something in my eye several times. But I only had to step away once, I think. There were multiple times when I left the room but still appeared to be on camera, especially during the surgery.
Was it hard not to become emotional seeing how the patients were suffering?
No, thankfully. And they were suffering. But I learned from a very young age not to cry when someone else is in pain; to focus only on easing their fears. So, I found it much easier to keep my emotions in check around patients than I did the producers.
How does the Hollywood version of the healthcare industry differ from reality?
The depictions are getting better, but not one has scratched the surface on how icky the funding process is, the red flags, the competing with other hospitals for the same crumbs, decreasing time limits on patients in ambulance vans, sharing small apartments with several co-workers… the list goes on.
Did you feel out of your depth at any time during filming this series?
I felt quite at home in the hospital, as far as surgeries and pressure is concerned, and thoroughly enjoyed every moment. Outside of hospital, I felt very raw. My father had recently passed away, and my grief felt compounded by bearing witness to these young healthcare workers dealing with such a shortage in resources, support and money to save our lives.
What did you take away from filming the series?
I walked away feeling defeated. I need to find more ways to help, we all do. I probably shouldn’t say that, but it really is daunting to witness these angels, running on pure goodness, hold up an archaic system that is falling down around them.
A few years ago, you said you’d pushed pause on your memoir. Do you have plans to revisit that?
I never put it down! Where do you think I have been these few years! I also picked up a documentary project to support that book.
The Hospital: In the Deep End airs Thursday, 8.30pm on SBS and SBS On Demand.
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