Clarkson: I was near to ending it all
Fed-up Grand Tour host’s hospital ordeal
JEREMY Clarkson claims he was so bored as he battled pneumonia in hospital that he thought about killing himself.
The Grand Tour presenter fell ill on holiday in Majorca earlier this month and is expected to have two months off to recover.
Clarkson, 57, who says he’s never taken a sick day, found it tough to be stuck in bed.
He said: “My right lung was more than half full of mucus. I was running one hell of a fever.
“I had almost no breath at all, and even less energy, but all I could think was, ‘I am dying of boredom here – literally dying.
“The boredom was so bad I thought often about killing myself.
“Normally when I’m bored, I smoke or drink. Both of those things were out of the question.”
Writing in a newspaper column, he said he was warned the infection could kill him if he didn’t stop working to recover.
He had dangerously high levels of a protein called CRP which is produced by the liver and increases when the body is inflamed. Jeremy said a doctor told him: “A healthy person’s CRP should be five – yours is 337. If you don’t do as I say, you will die.” But the controversial TV host fears the experience may turn him into a bore. He said: “This is the problem with hospitals. People who stay in them become incapable of speaking about anything other than what nurses brought what drug at what time. “Boredom turns them into bores. All I can talk about is my illness.” Filming for the second series of The Grand Tour is continuing after Richard Hammond returned to work. The 47-year-old, injured in a crash in June, posted a video online showing him back behind the wheel. He said: “This feels better than the first time, being 17 and given the keys to freedom because this time I’m ready.” The show is due to return to Amazon Prime in November.