Martin Roberts says he watched docs use eight-inch syringe to remove fluid from around his heart in lifesaving procedure

MARTIN Roberts says he watched docs use an eight-inch syringe to remove fluid from around his heart in a lifesaving procedure.

The Homes Under The Hammer star, 58, had emergency surgery this week after a "massive amount of fluid" was discovered around his heart.

Martin is now being transferred to a respiratory unit for further tests and is likely to remain in hospital for the next fortnight.

The TV has told how he had to undergo a scary procedure while still awake after suffering with excess of water around his heart that was preventing it from pumping correctly.

He told : "I watched as they drew out syringe after syringe after syringe of this liquid. 

"I was awake for this, but I was bit woozy. There was a tube that went in through my chest cavity, down into the sack around my heart."

They then pulled the fluid out and squirted it into "a plastic beaker".

He added: "In the end there was about a litre and a half of stuff they took out. In my case, it turns to something called a cardiac tamponade, which is where it fills rapidly and starts strangling the heart. And that's... that's the killer. It can result in death."

Martin also told The Sun how he now has to stay in hospital for a while.

He said: "I’m being transferred to the respiratory team today as they think it might have started with a serious lung infection.

"I may be in hospital for another two weeks."

Martin was whisked to hospital in Bath, Somerset, this week after suffering from severe chest pains.

He required life-saving treatment after fluid was discovered around his heart.

Martin first spoke about his frightening ordeal to fans on social media in a video filmed from his hospital bed.

He said: "I ended up in hospital in Bath yesterday, I had a few chest pains and just feeling generally lousy, so I was brought in here and turns out I had a massive amount of fluid all around my heart, which was actually stopping my heart working.

"Had they not got rid of it, which they did in an emergency operation last night, then it’s sort of quite serious, like, hours to live kind of c**p.

"So here I am, still around, thank goodness, thank god and angels, all those things.”

Martin has since given an update to The Sun and admitted he is feeling "scared and emotionally battered".

"Firstly, I have been overwhelmed by all the messages of love and support I’ve received," he said. "They mean the world to me and help lift my spirits, at a time I feel a bit scared and very emotionally battered, like you wouldn’t believe. Thank you. Thank you."

Reassuring fans that he is on the mend, he continued: "The heart problem seems to have stabilised.

"They are now running tests to find out what caused the problem in the first place. Seems this fluid build-up around the heart that nearly killed me was an effect (a deadly one) rather than a cause."

But the emotional trauma of the ordeal is proving difficult to process, with Martin admitting he is struggling with nightmares.

Martin has been inundated with get well messages from both friends and fans since opening up about his terrifying heart scare.