'I WAS GETTING WORSE'
Paddy Doherty reveals doctors told him he was ‘hours from death’ after falling ill with coronavirus
PADDY Doherty has revealed doctors told him he was just hours away from dying after falling seriously ill with coronavirus.
The Big Fat Gypsy Wedding star, 61, initially refused to go to hospital but medics warned him that the decision could cost him is life.
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Speaking to the , he said: "I was getting worse. I had sweats, pains, exhaustion and headaches. I was in a bit of a mess.
"The paramedics arrived and said they needed to take me into hospital but I didn't want to go but they insisted because they were really worried for me.
"They said 'if you don’t go in you may not wake up tomorrow'."
And in a breathless video from his hospital bed, Paddy warned fans "don't underestimate Covid".
The Celebrity Big Brother winner has been put on oxygen by doctors as he fights both Covid and pneumonia.
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Paddy filmed a shocking video from his hospital bed as he warned the disease is "no joke".
Hooked up to machines, he said: "I will say this, don't underestimate Covid. It has knocked me down for six, it is what it is."
He continued: "I'm gonna make you all laugh. I've been knocked out for the last couple of days.
“I can sit up now, I couldn’t sit up. Look, I can even move my hand, I couldn’t do that.
"I'm alive. It's not a joke, far from a wise crack. Keep your distance, don't shake hands."
Paddy then talked about an exchange with his doctor, who told him he had pneumonia and Covid and that he would be given steroids.
He revealed he managed to share a laugh with the medic and claimed he told him: "You are the most funniest man in the world. You are one patient I will never forget."
Paddy continued: "But the point of my story is, be careful, I can’t believe I’m talking to you.
"Be lucky, be safe and God Bless."
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His wife Roseanne and son Simey confirmed the news he was in hospital in a Facebook post earlier.
Simey said: "Can everybody please keep my father in prayer as I was just speaking to him and he has got double pneumonia also claw seen in the lungs and tested positive for Covid. He’s also on oxygen. Keep my father in prayer. [sic]"
Roseanne added: "Please will everything pray for my Paddy he has been taken in to hospital.
"He is not very well. [sic]"
Paddy revealed last year how he had battled prostate cancer in secret for seven months, before finally given the all clear in April.
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He told how the diagnosis had taken a toll on his mental health.
The star said: "I suffered with depression once upon a time, I know what it's like and I'm not ashamed to say it.
"When I found out I had prostate (cancer), my head messed up big time.
"No one knows it until you're in that situation."
The reality star revealed doctors told him he would need two operations to tackle his cancer but he refused to go under the knife more than once.
Doctors told Paddy he would need two separate operations to try and remedy the issue.
He also said the pain was so bad he would have done anything for it to end.
Paddy explained: “I said: ‘Listen, if you are going to cut it off, cut it off.’ Right? Honest to God. I am not ashamed to say this. ‘If you want to cut it off, cut it off. I can’t keep going through it.’
“I felt like I was going to commit suicide. The pain was so dreadful it was unbelievable. I wouldn’t wish it on my worst enemy in the whole wide world.
“They said: ‘Right Paddy, we will do the double operation but you are going to be very sore.’ And I said: ‘I can’t be any sorer than I am. If you want to take it off take it off.’”
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And he added: “Now, I am a man. I love my woman more than the world. The woman is my life.
“And for me not to have intercourse, that was it. My life has ended. But that is how bad it was.”
Paddy gained fame after appearing on Channel 4 hit show My Big Fat Gypsy Wedding.
The former bare-knuckle boxer went on to win CBB in 2011.
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He later appeared on "When Paddy met Sally" with fellow housemate Sally Bercow, wife of the ex-Commons speaker, where they lived at his Qpueensferry home in 2012.