‘I have a second chance at life’: Martin Roberts reveals he ‘should’ve been on the scrap heap’ and ‘wouldn’t be here’ without his incredible doctors after near-death health scare

Martin Roberts has revealed he feels like he’s been given a ‘second chance at life’ after his near-death health scare earlier this year when his heart, kidney and liver failed. 

The presenter, 58, was hospitalised in April with chest pains that he mistook for long Covid, but learned he was suffering from pericardial effusion, which is a build-up of fluid in the structure around the heart.

He had to have emergency surgery and has now thanked the incredible medical team without whom he ‘wouldn’t be here’. 

Positive: Martin Roberts has revealed he feels like he’s been given a ‘second chance at life’ after his near-death health scare earlier this year when his heart, kidney and liver failed

He told The Sun: ‘My heart was giving up, my kidneys and liver were operating at 30 per cent and my lungs were weakening. I should have been on the scrap heap, so little inside me was working as it should.

‘It all seemed to happen so fast, there wasn’t time for me to panic. There was an entire team that saved my life.

‘I remember asking the surgeon if he’d ever killed anyone doing that procedure and he told me he had a clean sheet and didn’t intend to change that with me.

Pain: The presenter, 58, was hospitalised in April with chest pains that he mistook for long Covid, but learned he was suffering from pericardial effusion, which is a build-up of fluid in the structure around the heart

‘They saved my life and I’ll never be able to repay them. From the porters and cleaners to the surgeons, each and every one of them deserves this nomination. I’ve been given a second chance and don’t intend to waste it.’

It comes after earlier this month Martin was overcome with emotion as he returned to Homes Under The Hammer after the terrifying health scare left him ‘hours from death.’

Taking to Instagram with a candid message for his 20,800 followers, a grateful Martin said it was a ‘special day’ to be back filming on the show he’s presented for almost two decades.

Grateful: He had to have emergency surgery and has now thanked the incredible medical team without whom he ‘wouldn’t be here’

He said: ‘So I’ve got some news and it’s actually pretty amazing news. Today is a very special day, it’s quite an emotional one to be honest because I’ve spoken to the doctors and they’ve said as long as I take it easy I’m okay to start work.

‘So I am back today filming Homes Under The Hammer.

‘I am in the valleys of Wales,’ he said, before kissing the bricks of the nearby house, ‘I have missed this, so much.’ 

The television property expert then turned the message to his ‘OTT shirt’, which was adorned with a floral print. 

‘Today is a very special day’: It comes after earlier this month Martin was overcome with emotion as he returned to Homes Under The Hammer after the terrifying health scare

He explained that it was a ‘little nod to all of the kindness I’ve received over the last few weeks.’ 

‘Here I am! I’m back! It feels great,’ Martin concluded. 

The video’s accompanying caption read: ‘It’s a VERY special day… so I decided I should wear a VERY bright shirt to celebrate ❤️❤️❤️❤️’.  

Last month, Martin revealed that his ‘heart would have been strangled’ if he hadn’t been rushed to A&E.

Detailing his health scare on This Morning, Martin told Phillip Schofield and Rochelle Humes he’d suffered from chest pains for several weeks, but simply assumed they were long Covid.  

He said: ‘I’d been feeling a bit poorly, under the weather for a couple of weeks. I’ve had a few chest infections over the last few years and I’ve had asthma since childhood, so I’m used to quite a tight chest. 

‘As it approached the Easter bank holiday weekend, it was starting to get really bad where I could hardly walk without struggling for breath.’  

He added: ‘The confusing thing about this, it’s a bit of a red herring, is that it gets you in the breathing side of things, so you don’t think it’s something to do with your heart. 

Scary: Last month Martin revealed on This Morning that his ‘heart would have been strangled’ if he hadn’t been rushed to A&E

‘You think, ”It must be something to do with my chest.” Then it’s the dangerous thing of playing Google doctor.

‘It looked like it could have been the symptoms for long Covid – real lethargy, a tightness in the chest, pain in the chest, difficulty breathing, so you pause it and pause it and by the time it got to just after the bank holiday weekend, I was starting to be delirious, putting letters the wrong way round, I said to Kirsty, ”We’ve got to go to hospital.”’

His wife Kirsty added: ‘Really worrying. We’re thankful we got to to A&E when we did.’ 

Pericardial effusion causes excess fluid to clog up the sac surrounding the heart, known as the pericardium.

Symptoms can include shortness of breath, chest pains, discomfort when breathing, feeling light-headed or swelling in the abdomen or legs.

What is a pericardial effusion?

Pericardial effusion causes excess fluid to clog up the sac surrounding the heart, known as the pericardium.

If the pericardium is diseased or injured, the inflammation can lead to excess fluid. 

Fluid can also build up around the heart without inflammation, such as from bleeding. 

Symptoms can include shortness of breath, chest pains, discomfort when breathing, feeling light-headed or swelling in the abdomen or legs.

While the condition can be treated with medication, in severe cases doctors may perform surgery to drain the excess fluid.

While the condition can be treated with medication, in severe cases doctors may perform surgery to drain the excess fluid.

Martin explained that he required surgery because the fluid build-up had placed so much strain on his heart, causing organ failure.

He told Phillip and Rochelle: ‘There’s a sack around your heart and it was filling with fluid, it’s called a pericardial effusion and that in turn is something called a tapenade, which basically means this sack is squeezing the heart it sits around, so the heart isn’t able to expand, and therefore isn’t able to pump, so it means all of your organs start failing. 

‘By the time they got to me, my kidneys were at 30 per cent, my liver was at 30 per cent, my lungs weren’t getting the oxygen and at any point, I could have had a heart attack…. The heart would have been strangled by itself.’

He added, ‘We’re talking minutes stroke hours of life left here.’

Asked what went through his mind, Martin said: ‘You just put your life in the hands of professionals. I’m lying there in the specialist cardiac drain unit – there’s a special operating theatre and there’s a local anaesthetic. 

‘I’m watching as they stick a tube into the side of your heart and then with a big syringe, he starts pulling this dark red/black liquid, which is almost, I call death liquid, pulls it out and squirts it into a plastic beaker, pulls another one and squirts it in and I was just watching…’

Phillip asked Kirsty whether her husband’s ordeal had sparked a reset for them, and she replied: ‘Totally. We’ve said this, haven’t we? I did send a card to Martin when he came out of hospital and I said, ”We do have to take this as a bit of a watershed moment.”’ 

Horror: Martin had previously said he started to feel unwell over Easter Bank Holiday and feared he was suffering a heart attack before being taken to hospital by his wife Kirsty

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