Big News For Maurice Benard’s Fans!

GENERAL HOSPITAL icon Maurice Benard (Sonny) marked a major milestone yesterday — he flew for the first time in years! “It’s been 10 years since I’ve flown and I just landed in New York,” the star tweeted. “WOW, it feels good to get that gorilla off my back!” As fans of the star know, Benard suffers from bipolar disorder (and is actually a spokesperson for the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance) and claustrophobia and has long had a fear of flying.

After having not flown for several years, he got on an airplane back in January 2011 to head East for a family vacation to Florida’s Disney World and several fan events — but began to have a panic attack shortly before take-off. As Soaps In Depth told our readers at the time, Benard had been working himself up for several months leading to that particular trip because it had been years since he’d last been on a plane. Unfortunately, that day, he told his wife, Paula, he needed to get off and departed the aircraft with his family.

Since it’s been more than a decade since Benard flew the friendly skies, whatever it is that motivated the daytime legend to get back on an airplane, it has to be huge, amazing news! And we promise you that as soon as we are able to share the details, we will let our readers know!