My comic escape as I set house on fire after heart op, by Palin
SIR Michael Palin has revealed he accidentally set fire to his house while trying to relax following open heart surgery.
The Monty Python star, 76, was ordered to rest after having two leaking valves repaired.
But while recuperating, some paper in his kitchen caught fire.
Writing in Idler magazine, Palin said: “I leapt up and grasped a hand towel, which briefly smothered the flames before itself catching alight.
“In some alarm now, as flames licked up towards the ceiling, I dialled the emergency services – but the moment we connected, the smoke alarm went off and I couldn’t hear a word they were saying. Just caught something about washing my hands which made me realise that, without my glasses on, I’d rung 111 instead of 999.
“But I washed my hands anyway and, by a fantastic stroke of luck, the loose tap that we never had fixed finally came apart, dousing the ceiling and partially extinguishing the fire. At this point my neighbour, who’s 86 and had a sextuple by-pass last Wednesday, wrenched up the window and pulled me to safety. Thank God, otherwise he’d have been out playing golf and my house would have been a write-off.”
Sir Michael previously said he now feels like a “one previous owner Golf GTI” instead of an “old Ford Anglia” as he recovered from the op. He added: “I felt very little pain afterwards. The upside is I have to take three months off work – doctor’s orders.”
The TV travel host, knighted last June, thanked well-wishers for cards and emails. He said: “I’m sure you speeded up the recovery. Now, excuse me while I get back to doing nothing.”
His admission comes after chef John Torode set fire to a tea towel during ITV’s This Morning on Tuesday.