Cork doctor wins BAFTA

A Cork doctor has celebrated a meteoric rise to fame by scooping a prestigious British Academy of Film and Television Arts (BAFTA) award.

Dr Pixie McKenna was back at work in her surgery in Tara Court, Glasheen today.

And while she was celebrating winning the TV award at a glitzy London ceremony at the weekend, her brother, specialist Dr Johnny McKenna, was operating on rugby player Tomás O’Leary’s ankle, which he injured during the Magners League clash against the Scarlets at Musgrave Park last Friday night.

Dr Pixie McKenna, from Glasheen Road, and her TV co-stars picked up the BAFTA for work on the Channel 4 series 'Embarrassing Bodies'.

The series has been running for more than two years and was given the award for its online coverage.

Dr McKenna, who graduated from UCC in 1995, lives in Cambridge but still works part-time in her family practice on the Glasheen Road — previously run by her father Jim for 42 years.

Today, Dr McKenna said the BAFTA experience, which involved her going on stage to collect the award, had been “surreal”.

“None of us expected to win as we were up against the BBC’s coverage of the Olympics,” she said.

“The programme has been great to be involved in and walking down the red carpet, and sitting behind comedian Alan Carr I was just thinking ‘what is a little girl from Cork city doing here?’”

Dr McKenna was part of the production team which collected the award.

Dr McKenna was back working in Cork today, following celebrations at the weekend with her co-stars, family and friends.

She will fly back to London tonight to work in her doctor’s surgery there tomorrow before returning to filming for Channel 4 on Thursday.

And if that was not enough, Dr McKenna is currently training for a four-day cycle from London to Paris in aid of the charity Action Medical Research.

Story courtesy of The Evening Echo