Martin Roberts has said that he has “no time to die” following a near fatal health scare.
The Homes Under the Hammer host, 60, admitted that he has been suffering with the mental scars of a terrifying ordeal with his heart that left him fighting for his life. However, as he continues to recover, he has insisted that he wants to grab life by the horns and live as much as he can.
As part of this new lease of life, the I’m A Celebrity star has begun to help young people who are at a crossroads in their lives. Martin explained that he wants to help children who grew up in difficult circumstances to have a purpose for themselves, as he launches a new renovation project.
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Speaking to the Mirror, he explained that he bought a pub in the village of Blaencwm in the Rhondda Valley in Wales that had been rundown for quite some time. Also cashing in on a dilapidated hotel, Roberts is giving disadvantaged children a new start as they can help in the renovations, with the hotel expected to be finished in the summer.
(Image: BBC)
He admitted that the brush with death was particularly emotional for him and this gave him a new sense of life itself. “The thought it could end so quickly made me desperate to do all I can because I don’t know how much longer I’ve got left,” he said in the emotional interview.
“None of us do. I’ve been given this opportunity to change kids’ lives and I feel so privileged.”
Roberts has also reached out to TV channels to document his story, and is in talks with bosses about filming the process. He added that the project has “massively” helped his mental health, but continues to struggle from time to time.
(Image: Channel 5)
In April 2022, the BBC presenter was rushed to hospital with chest pains and eventually required life-saving emergency surgery to keep him alive. As he later found out, he was suffering from pericardial effusion, which is a build-up of fluids around the heart, which can cause the organs in a body to fail.
Despite the incident taking place two years ago, Martin is regularly brought in for treatment and check-ups, adding that reflecting on the experience is hard to face. Welling up, he explained: “I can’t understate the mental after-effects of what happened to me.
“The physical stuff you get over, but it’s the overriding thought it could have all ended. Everything you tried to do, and your family, you realise it could all be gone.”
(Image: Rowan Griffiths / Daily Mirror)
Thankfully, Martin was able to make a full recovery, but admitted that medics told him he needed to slow down with his work schedule. However, for him, he since decided to go “the other way”.
He added: “Hopefully I’ve got many years but you never know. That whole thing that happened to me makes you realise how thin a thread we dangle from, but you can’t go through life living in that fear.”
Martin continues to oversee the renovations of his new Hendrewen Hotel, as he is thrilled to work with teenagers between 15 and 17. The experience has helped several disadvantaged teenagers get back on track with their lives.
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Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
