The Hairy Bikers’ Si King almost lost his life after suffering a terrifying brain aneurysm.
The TV chef, 54, was home alone watching the rugby on telly when “players began falling off the screen”.
Si had already been battling a crippling headache for four days when the frightening incident happened in 2014.
Incredibly, the dad-of-three was able to call the hospital and book himself a cab.
But during the journey, Si found it a struggle to look at the light and felt the driver was speaking loudly.
The Hairy Bikers’ Si King: ‘All hell broke loose’
Two years after his ordeal, he told The Mirror: “When I got to hospital all hell broke loose.
“The doctors did a lumbar puncture and found blood in my spinal fluid.
“At that point they grew really worried – I had to sign a load of forms to say I understood I may make it, or I may not.”
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Doctors diagnosed Si with an aneurysm or, in simpler terms, a bleed on the brain.
Once in surgery, they performed an occlusion. This is when the blood in the artery that is leading to the aneurysm is redirected elsewhere.
Si was in intensive care for four days. Incredibly, he was back on his beloved motorbike within four weeks.
“The consultant surgeon who did my operation told me that I’d suffered a massive trauma,” he added, during the 2016 interview.
“He said I’d lost 20% of myself and not to do much. He said I’d basically got away with it. And my God, have I got away with it.”
At the time, Si – part of a cooking double act with his Hairy Bikers’ co-star Dave Myers – said the only lasting effect was a few “shifts” in his personality.
But he insisted only people who knew him incredibly well would have noticed.
Relationship woes
Sadly, two years after his aneurysm, Si also confirmed he had split with his wife and mother of his kids, Jane.
In an interview with the Daily Mail’s Weekend magazine, the Hairy Biker said fame and work had put too much pressure on their marriage.
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He admitted: “We lost each other. Jane was focused on the family and I was focused on work.
“The reality is the industry we work in is incredibly brutal.”
We lost each other.
Si went on to find love with an Aussie chef Michele Cranston.
The couple, who had enjoyed a long-distance relationship between the UK and Australia, even planned to marry.
But back in October 2021, unconfirmed reports in The Mirror claimed that Si and Michele have split.
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