Graham Norton is one of the funniest London-based comics of all time, but his first arrival in the city was marked by terror.
The 57-year-old presenter was stabbed in the head in a horrific attack back in 1989, almost losing his life before NHS staff heroically intervened.
Graham wrote about the experience in Adam Kay’s new book, Dear NHS: 100 Stories To Say Thank You, which pays tribute to NHS workers up and down the country.
Speaking about the harrowing tale on yesterday’s instalment of This Morning, Adam outlined the violent attack, as Phillip Schofield and Holly Willoughby listened on in horror.
Back in the 80s, Graham Norton was subjected to a violent attack (Image: NurPhoto via Getty Images)
Adam said: “He got stabbed. Not a bit stabbed. He got really stabbed.
“Lost half his blood volume and almost lost his life.”
At the time of the attack, Graham was a drama student who had recently moved to London from his native Cork, in the south of Ireland.
Graham feared he was going to lose his life after the attack (Image: BBC/So Television/Christopher Baines)
Adam continued: “There’s this chilling section where he asks this nurse, ‘Am I going to die?’
“And the long pause that the nurse gave before her response made his flesh hug his bones.
Author and former doctor Adam Kay detailed the assault on This Morning (Image: ITV)
“But of course, as they do for so many of us, the NHS saved his life.”
Graham touched on the assault in a 2010 piece for The Telegraph, revealing a “group of boys” had targeted him.
He added: “To add insult to injury, not only did I lose half my blood but I lost my boyfriend too: he dumped me the next day, which wasn’t the most tactful piece of timing.”
Graham isn’t the only celebrity to tell their personal stories of encounters with the NHS – Ed Sheeran, Dame Julie Walters and Emma Watson have also contributed pieces to the publication.
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
