Latest news with #Kaye Adams
The Sun
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- The Sun
Russell Watson reveals he contemplated jumping from hotel balcony in suicide bid amid agonising brain tumour battle
RUSSELL Watson revealed he briefly considered ending his life after being diagnosed with his first brain tumour. The opera singer, 58, was recording an album in Los Angeles in 2006 when he paid a visit to Cedars-Sinai Hospital after suffering excruciating headaches. 3 3 Russell had been experiencing them for months and on his flight to the States was in so much pain he was convinced he was going to die. An MRI scan revealed a pituitary tumour - later found to be benign - the size of two golf balls that required emergency surgery. Speaking on Kaye Adams' How To Be 60 podcast, he said: "My whole world came crashing down and the pain got worse – everything was exacerbated with the news of what he'd just told me. "I was staying in a hotel in Beverly Hills and I was on the 8th floor and it was the first time I'd ever felt this way. "I can't explain the pain – I've never felt anything like it before or since – it was like a dagger being pressed into the centre of my head and twisted. "It was excruciating and for one moment I stood on my hotel balcony. I literally just thought: 'f**k this, I've had enough.' And I felt like jumping." Fortunately, his mind drifted to his family and he didn't go through with it. He continued: "And then the thought of the children entered my head and they were little girls then - they're not going to manage without me. Back in the room. Went and lay on the bed, rinsed my face with cold water and took the pain on." Russell branded himself an "idiot" for staying in LA to complete his record before returning to the UK for a five-hour surgery at St George's Hospital, London. The classical singer was determined to finish the album that he felt at the time might be his legacy record were he to die. The impacts of the tumour, which was removed through his nose, are still felt to this day. Russell explained: "I'll be taking a lifetime of replacement drugs and hormones for as long as I'm here, predominantly to my pituitary gland which was pretty much decimated, so there's a constant reminder. "I have to take daily injections and tablets, particularly hydrocortisone, which I was told if I didn't take for a specific amount of time I wouldn't be here anymore. It's the lifesaving drug for me and growth hormones." In 2007, disaster struck again when a regrowth of the tumour stopped Russell in his tracks while he was making another album. Help for mental health If you, or anyone you know, needs help dealing with mental health problems, the following organisations provide support. The following are free to contact and confidential: Samaritans, 116 123 CALM (the leading movement against suicide in men) 0800 585 858 Papyrus (prevention of young suicide) 0800 068 41 41 Shout (for support of all mental health) text 85258 to start a conversation Mind, provide information about types of mental health problems and where to get help for them. Call the infoline on 0300 123 3393 (UK landline calls are charged at local rates, and charges from mobile phones will vary). YoungMinds run a free, confidential parents helpline on 0808 802 5544 for parents or carers worried about how a child or young person is feeling or behaving. The website has a chat option too. Rethink Mental Illness, gives advice and information service offers practical advice on a wide range of topics such as The Mental Health Act, social care, welfare benefits, and carers rights. Use its website or call 0300 5000 927 (calls are charged at your local rate). Heads Together, is the a mental health initiative spearheaded by The Royal Foundation of The Prince and Princess of Wales. Once again he needed emergency surgery, this time at Alexandra Hospital, Greater Manchester. It was followed by radiotherapy as part of his rehabilitation. Last November, Russell broke down in tears on The One Show when he received a video message from the consultant who had looked after him. Mr Lackett told him: "17 years on from that brave decision to have the surgery and look what a glittering career you've had in-between. "I can't tell you how much the team and I were so proud to watch you and your progress after that awful night when you were taken into hospital as an emergency." Emotional Russell responded by telling the hosts Alex Jones and Roman Kemp: "Oh deary me, what a man. And so lovely as well, so down to earth. Just a beautiful human being. "I will be eternally grateful to him." 3 Symptoms of a benign brain tumour A benign brain tumour is a mass of cells that grows relatively slowly in the brain. Benign means it in not cancerous. Non-cancerous brain tumours tend to stay in one place and do not spread. Some slow-growing tumours may not cause any symptoms at first. When symptoms occur, it's because the tumour is putting pressure on the brain and preventing a specific area of the brain from working properly. As the tumour grows and increases pressure in the skull, you might experience: New, persistent headaches that are sometimes worse in the morning or when bending over or coughing Feeling sick all the time Drowsiness Vision problems, such as blurred or double vision, loss of part of your visual field and temporary vision loss Epileptic seizures that may affect the whole body, or you may just have a twitch in one area See a GP if you develop any of these symptoms. They'll examine you and ask about your symptoms. If they suspect you may have a tumour or are not sure what's causing your symptoms, they may refer you to a brain and nerve specialist for further investigation. Source: NHS
Daily Mail
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Daily Mail
Russell Watson reveals he contemplated suicide and wanted to jump from a hotel balcony because he was struggling with agonising pain of his brain tumour
Singer Russell Watson has revealed he briefly considered suicide as he struggled with the agonising pain of a brain tumour. The popular tenor, 58, said he contemplated jumping from a hotel balcony and admitted it was only the thought of his two young daughters being left without a dad that pulled him back from the brink. Russell had suffered excruciating headaches for months before finally being diagnosed with a pituitary tumour in 2006 while recording an album in Los Angeles. Doctors told him he needed urgent surgery. Speaking to Kaye Adams on her How To Be 60 podcast, the singer – the UK's best-selling classical artist of all time – said: 'My whole world came crashing down and the pain got worse – everything was exacerbated with the news of what he'd just told me. 'I was staying in a hotel in Beverly Hills and I was on the 8th floor and it was the first time I'd ever felt this way. 'I can't explain the pain – I've never felt anything like it before or since – it was like a dagger being pressed into the centre of my head and twisted.' Russell added to the Loose Women star: 'It was excruciating and for one moment I stood on my hotel balcony. I literally just thought: "f**k this, I've had enough." And I felt like jumping. 'And then the thought of the children entered my head and they were little girls then - they're not going to manage without me. Back in the room. Went and lay on the bed, rinsed my face with cold water and took the pain on.' Russell shares two daughters Becky, now 30 and Hannah, now 24, with ex-wife Helen Watson. Russell, who was 39 at the time, decided to stay in Los Angeles and continue working on his album That's Life until tests confirmed whether the tumour was malignant or benign. Not sure if he would survive, he believed the record could be the last thing he ever recorded. He said: 'And being the idiot that I am – I still to this day don't know if it was the right or the wrong decision - but I didn't tell my friends or my family and I went to the studio and I recorded the album. 'I don't remember making it. At that point I wasn't sure whether I was going to live or die or what was going to happen to me, but I felt at that time this might be my legacy; it might be the last thing I recorded. I finished the album and I got on a plane and I flew home and I had my first operation.' He underwent a five-hour emergency operation to remove the eight-centimetre tumour at St George's Hospital in Tooting, South London. The opera singer, who has sold more than seven million albums worldwide during his career, underwent further surgery in 2007 after a re-growth of the tumour and bleeding into his brain. He recovered, but says he is reminded every day of how close he came to death, because of the daily drugs required following the surgery. 'Because of the damage that the tumour did, I'll be taking a lifetime of replacement drugs and hormones for as long as I'm here, predominantly to my pituitary gland which was pretty much decimated, so there's a constant reminder', he told How To Be 60. 'When people ask me about it, I don't feel a sense of – I don't want to talk about it, because that was years ago. It still feels like it's now, because the after effects of it still exist. 'I have to take daily injections and tablets, particularly hydrocortisone, which I was told if I didn't take for a specific amount of time I wouldn't be here anymore. It's the lifesaving drug for me and growth hormones. 'All these different things enhance my life and how I feel, but also, the flip side of that, they affect how I function and how I feel each day.' Russell has openly spoken about his brain tumour battle over the years. His 2024 book Encore: My journey back to centre stage, talks about his return to the limelight following the terrifying battle. In the years following his diagnosis, Russell battled crippling treatment, lifesaving operations, HRT therapy and mental health struggles - before being told he would likely never sing again. He said: 'My diagnosis changed everything - all I could think about was how my wife and daughters would survive without me. 'It was difficult to see beyond my illness at the time, but to be alive and healthy 15 years later is something I'm eternally grateful for. 'Often when we are writing wills we think about those closest to us. But a will, much like a piece of music, has the power to touch the lives of so many more. 'I want others to receive the kind of life-saving treatment that I did, to give that gift of time for which I'm so grateful every day.' Meanwhile in 2018, Russell spoke candidly about his harrowing experience, admitting he has to take a 'cocktail of drugs' every day to keep himself alive. The performer admitted he used to 'panic he would die in his sleep', after doctors discovered a tumour had returned on his pituitary gland back in 2007. 'Initially it was a minefield, because I was taking this whole cocktail of drugs to stay alive,' he told Best Magazine. 'It used to get me down, I would get very depressed. 'I'd go to bed at night but wouldn't be able to get to sleep - I'd panic because I thought I would die if I fell asleep.' The previous year, Russell told This Morning that while he was in the midst of conquering the second tumour, he believed he'd died. He said: 'When I came round after the second op, I remember my eyes flickering open and I saw two white shadows and thought, I did make it to heaven that's nice. 'Then I realised it was the kids and there were tears streaming down my face.' Manchester-born Russell, who started life as a factory bolt-cutter, found fame with his 2000 album The Voice. But two years later his personal life came crashing down with his divorce from his first wife, Helen. Russell revealed to Kaye Adams, that for a while he wasn't allowed to see the couple's two daughters Becky and Hannah. 'It was a very difficult time. The breakdown of my marriage was a testing time for me,' he admitted. 'There was a period of time where I wasn't able to see my children and so I had to go to a court and get permission from a judge and that took a long time and it was hell. 'When a court judge decided: "yes, you can actually see your children," it was a fantastic moment.' Russell, who lives on a farm in Cheshire with his second wife Louise, said he and his daughters Becky, 30 and Hannah, 24, are now closer than ever. He said: 'A lot of time was spent trying to conquer the world, but whilst it was happening, those first two years I think I rarely saw home. 'Even though I had massive success, I was still looking at myself in the mirror and thinking: was this all worth it? Because I'd missed a lot of the important years with regards to my children. 'I've definitely made up for it now, because even at 30 and 24 they're so massively reliant on me. They've moved into the area that I live and our relationship is stronger and better than it's ever been. I would give it all up for my kids.' Russell is embarking on his Evolution Tour this autumn to celebrate 25 years of music. But he said that getting older had made him question his mortality. He told Kaye Adams: 'We do become more self-aware as we progress in age, of how much time we may potentially, hopefully, have left on the planet and it's a sobering thought. 'I know it sounds morbid, but I really don't like the thought of everybody that I love and myself not being here anymore. It makes me really want to focus heavily on the things that I think are important in life and that's friendship, love and family. 'As I approach 60, I feel like it's hitting me quite hard at the moment. I remember a few months back, I woke up in the middle of the night for no particular reason and I just thought: "oh my God, at some point I'm not going to exist anymore in this plane of life and neither is everybody else that I love and care for." And it upsets me.'
