Pop Idol Darius left in a coma after he swigs Thames water
SiNGER Darius Campbell has told how he nearly died when a publicity stunt for a fresh water charity spectacularly backfired.
He had to be put into a coma after mistakenly glugging an unfiltered bottle of water taken from near a sewage outlet on the River Thames.
Campbell, who made his name as a Pop idol finalist, was promoting a water filter bottle which removes 99.9 per cent of pathogens, bacteria and viruses – to help people in countries such as Madagascar.
But he picked up a display bottle in which the filter had been removed. Soon afterwards he collapsed with bacterial meningitis and severe brain swelling.
When the 37-year-old Glaswegian woke up, his mother Avril Danesh – herself undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy for breast cancer – was in tears at his hospital bedside. He said: ‘As i came out of the coma i remember my mum sitting beside the bed.
‘it felt wrong because mum was going through cancer treatment yet she sat next to me with tears in her eyes telling my brother they almost lost me.’ Doctors traced the origins of the illness to his publicity drive Appeal: Darius with a water filter with charity group Fresh2o. He recalled: ‘in order to raise funds to get the water filters to Africa, we did a demonstration video down at the Thames next to the sewage outlet.
‘So i drank the water for the video, sent it off and raised the funds, which paid for filters to go to people who needed them. But when i went to
Glasgow to see my mum for her birthday I collapsed.’
Campbell appeared on TV in 2001 on talent show Popstars before getting to the finals and coming third in Pop Idol a year later. He added: ‘I had a cerebral oedema, where your brain swells bigger than your skull.
‘My dad [renowned gastroenterologist Booth Danesh] saved my life – he got me to hospital and they diagnosed it quickly.’ His mother has since been given the all- clear from her cancer, while his father battled back from the disease ten years ago.
The singer said: ‘We are lucky to be
‘They almost lost me’
alive and I’m just glad my family are all going to see Christmas.’
Candice Farmer, founder of Fresh2o, which organised the stunt in 2015, said: ‘We work in countries where the drinking water contains parasites and can make people very ill.
‘Thanks to the filters, children can go to school without being sick.’
A Public Health England spokesman said: ‘Untreated water from any river, including the River Thames, can carry a range of disease-causing bacteria and viruses. People who drink untreated water may experience a range of symptoms including diarrhoea, vomiting, skin infections and more serious illnesses such as meningitis.’