I’m A Celeb star Martin Roberts’ dad says his son is lucky to be alive after terrifying accident in Peru rainforest
The property expert's father also revealed Martin is allergic to 'dandruff of different dogs'
MARTIN Roberts' dad says he's 'lucky to be alive' after he nearly DIED in a jungle boat accident.
The property expert was almost killed on an expedition in Peru when he was 22 - and his dad says the Australian jungle is nowhere near as frightening as his real-life experience.
The TV star, 53, was on a trip with young people's charity Operation Raleigh in the Peruvian rainforest for three months in 1986 when the incident happened.
Talking from his Bristol home, his 84-year-old dad Norman revealed that he'd been sailing down a river when the boat crashed into rocks and overturned - and he had to be saved by a local tribe.
Norman told : "It was at night and they were returning from the expedition.
"They hit some rocks in the river. The boat overturned and they had to swim for it.
"It was terrifying for him. They lost everything.”
Although his dad says he was a 'good swimmer' it was the local tribespeople who helped him to safety.
“They had these lamps on the boat and these native Peruvians came out to help them.
"They saved his life - then they had to make their way back to base on foot.
“We were very concerned. We were getting reports coming back but we didn’t really know what had happened.
"It was only afterwards that he told us everything.”
Martin has only briefly spoken about the terrifying experience which made him look at life differently - and encouraged him to pursue a career in broadcasting.
Speaking in 2011, he said: “I came back from there realising that you never know what is going to happen in life.”
And although Martin's been mocked for his moaning, his dad says his near-death experience is far worse than the bugs and bitchiness in the jungle.
Norman says: “What he is doing now doesn’t compare to what happened then.
“I am always very proud of Martin. He is his own person and can hold his own."
And on Martin's feud with Danny Baker, he says: “Danny is someone that went down in my estimations a few years ago.
"I’m disenchanted with his attitude.”
Even after his distressing accident, Norman says Martin is still keen to get stuck into all the challenges - but couldn't do the water challenge because of a separate medical reason.
He says: “Martin loves water and swimming. He isn’t scared of snakes and things like that - although he is allergic to donkeys and the dandruff of different dogs!
“When he was little he went up to this little dog and stroked it and his whole face blew up. The doctor said he was lucky to find out so soon.”
And it doesn't end there. Martin and his dad had another close shave in 1979 in the mountains on holiday in Madeira.
Norman says: “We got lost. There was a lot of heavy rain and the track we should have taken got washed away.
“We were lost for 12 hours and my wife was back at the hotel wondering what on earth had happened to us. She was very anxious.
“Martin was very calm though - he was 16 then. We spent an hour trying to navigate ourselves through a dark tunnel.
"We kept hitting our heads but we got out in the end.”
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