Pop Idol star Darius Danesh almost died twice before he sadly passed away aged 41. Many across the country have paid tributes to the star whose death was announced by his family in a statement.
Pop Idol judge Simon Cowell said that Darius' death is an "absolute tragedy" in a tribute posted on social media last night. The cause of his death is currently unknown, however police have said there is no suspicious circumstances.
The singer and actor was found dead in Rochester, Minnesota, on August 11, in his apartment. He first found fame when he came third on Pop Idol behind Gareth Gates and winner Will Young.
Before his tragic death, Darius hit the headlines in 2010 when he revealed he was just "three millimetres from death" after being in a high speed car crash. He had been a passenger in a Porsche when it hit a wall at 70mph after skidding on oil during a holiday in Spain.
Darius broke his neck and his "trauma compression injury" was similar to the injury that Superman actor Christopher Reeve suffered - which left him paralysed. At the time he said: "I'm so happy to be alive. I've definitely used up one of my nine lives."
Five years later, fans were left shocked when Darius said he had been put into a coma after contracting meningitis when he drank water from the Thames. The terrifying ordeal happened when he filmed a promo clip for his charity Fresh2O Water filter.
The charity is said to remove 99.9 per cent of all known "water-borne pathogens, bacteria and viruses" - and he drank water from a Thames sewage outlet. However, his bottle didn't have a filter attached and he caught a virus.
Darius' immune system was left weakened and resulted in him contracting meningitis and cerebral oedema - swelling of his brain. He later explained: "So I drank the water for the video and raised the funds but when I went to Glasgow to see my mum for her birthday I collapsed.
"It turned out I had a cerebral oedema where your brain swells bigger than your skull. My dad saved my life. He got me to hospital, they diagnosed it quickly. I had bacterial meningitis."
He continued: "I had picked up an inflammatory virus from the Thames that had stayed in my system. It knocked my white blood cell count out for months and had left my immunity low so that I could have picked up anything going around. I had been flying a lot and picked up bacterial meningitis which at that time was on the rise."
Get the latest celebrity gossip and telly news sent straight to your inbox. Sign up to our weekly Showbiz newsletter here .
