'I couldn't even speak': Schapelle Corby tears up about her 'zombie' existence in prison
Convicted drug smuggler Schapelle Corby has revealed how for four years while behind bars in Bali, she lived like a “zombie” because of her severe mental health issues.
The 42-year-old became emotional during an interview with the Kyle and Jackie O show on Wednesday morning to promote a revised version of her 2006 autobiography, My Story: Schapelle Corby.
Corby explained the rapid descent of her mental health following the death of her dad, Mick, in 2008, which sent her spiralling into a non-verbal schizophrenic state.
“I was out of my mind, literally for about four years. I couldn’t even speak. People would have to massage my feet and hands because they would cramp. I was in such a hell in my mind, it’s really hard to go back to to write,” she told the hosts.
Struggling to hold back tears, Schapelle took aim at people who accused her of faking problems with her mental health.
“Mental illness is real. If I could have lived without mental illness, my mind would be so much better,” she said.
Corby said the death of her dad, a negative result from her final appeal and her mum’s partner also dying had pushed her over the edge and she “became a complete fruit loop”.
There were people inside prison who needed to hand feed Corby and put water down her throat when she was at her worst and “couldn’t even move”.
She said psychiatrist Jonathan Phillips travelled to Bali to meet with her and told her sister, Mercedes, how he had “never experienced looking at someone in a catatonic state”.
“Because he’d never experienced that before, he didn’t know if I would come out of that,” she said.
Corby was convicted in 2005 of smuggling 4.2 kilograms or marijuana inside her boogie board bag into Indonesia.
She was released on parole in February 2014 and was deported back to Australia on May 27, 2017.
Corby always maintained she was innocent of the crime, but said people still tormented her with their own versions of what they believed happened.
“They’re never going to say it to my face, but there are a lot of people who have a second uncle who worked with a friend who was the cousin of somebody who definitely knows I did it. I just walk away. I don’t need to live my life defending myself... I’ve got some really dedicated supporters,” she said.
While those people used to get to her, Corby said they did not upset her anymore.
She is hoping the re-release of her book, which came out on Tuesday, will help set the record straight once and for all.
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