BLUE’S DUNCAN JAMES ON
BLUE heart-throb Duncan James has revealed how a terrifying illness almost left him in a wheelchair for life.
The singer needed two emergency operations on his back and was told by doctors he had faced death and might never walk again.
At one point Duncan, 38, was rushed to hospital by ambulance when vital fluid from his brain and spine began pouring out of a surgery wound as he sat on the sofa at his mother’s house.
Two months on from the drama, the star – who also lost the use of his bladder – has battled back to make his debut on Channel 4’s Hollyoaks which had to be postponed because of his illness.
He still is unable to walk properly and is praying he will make a full recovery.
But he’s also thankful to be alive. Duncan says: “Doctors told me I could have spent the rest of my life in a wheelchair – or died.
“The feeling in my leg may take years to come back – and it may never return.
“I’ve always been incredibly active but I’ve been told to dramatically change my lifestyle.”
Duncan’s nightmare began when he woke up one morning in June to find his left leg was completely numb.
TRAPPED
“I couldn’t walk,” says Duncan, who first suffered back pain performing on stage with Blue in 2003. He further aggravated the problem this year by wearing high heels in hit musical Priscilla Queen O f Th e Desert. “I had a n MR I scan at hospital in June and they rushed me into surgery,” he recalls.
“They said if they didn’t operate that same day I’d be paralysed because a nerve that was trapped would die.
“I’d also lost control of my bladder. They said I might have to be catheterised permanently.
“I couldn’t believe it. I thought that only happened to old people.”
His operation to release the nerve was successful and he was discharged from London’s Charing Cross Hospital, but a week later he fell seriously ill at his mother Fiona’s home.
“I was getting headaches like I’ve never had before,” he says. “It was throbbing. It was agony and I felt sick.
“And I could feel a swelling in my back that I knew wasn’t right. I could feel pressure pushing down on my wound. It was a Saturday night, and I was with mum watching TV. Suddenly I’m soaking wet.
“My back had opened, and all this fluid, called cerebrospinal fluid, was just pouring out of me. I called the hospital who told me to lay on my front and not to touch my wound. “They were worried about bacterial meningitis which is really serious. “So I was taken back into the hospital that night to have an emergency operation to fix this leak. “I was supposed to be st a r t i ng on Hollyoaks that Monday. My mum was in bits, completely and utterly panicked.
“I had tubes coming out of everywhere. Going in for the operation I was really, really scared.
“I didn’t know what was going on. It felt very serious, and I did think, ‘Am I going to come out of this?’
“My mum was holding my hand as I was being wheeled to theatre, and I said to her, ‘Mum, do you think I’m going to die?’
“She said ‘Don’t be so silly’, but I could see the tears in her eyes. I felt bad for saying it.
“When I came back round the nurse said that they were really worried about her. She had had a breakdown and was beside herself.
“The hospital staff had to stay with her. The staff were amazing. They’re the only reason I can walk today.”
EXPENSIVE
While recovering in hospital from surgery, Duncan feared his illness might stop him providing for his family – including his mum Fiona, and 11-year-old daughter Tianie by exgirlfriend Claire Grainger.
He says: “I had a lot of time to reflect. Everyone was kind of dependent on me. I thought about what would happen if I was paralysed and I