Homes Under the Hammer’s Martin Roberts has told ITV's This Morning that he is determined to return to the show after he underwent life-saving heart surgery. “I’ve got to get to 20 years,” said Martin of his milestone work anniversary, as he recalled the death-dodging moment alongside his wife, Kirsty, who spoke about her husband’s "frustration" in recovery.
Last month, Martin was admitted to hospital after fluid had gathered around his heart. He told Phillip Schofield and Rochelle Humes that he witnessed black "death-juice" coming out of his chest and felt immediately better once it had been removed.
Explaining more about his condition, Martin said, “There’s a sack around your heart and it was filling with fluid, it’s called a pericardial effusion and that in turn is something called a tapenade, which basically means this sack is squeezing the heart it sits around, so the heart isn’t able to expand, and therefore isn’t able to pump, so it means all of your organs start failing."
Prior to the surgery, he researched his symptoms on Google. Kirsty, meanwhile, spoke about how he got progressively worse in the hours leading up to the surgery. Upon consulting the internet, there were stark similarities to that of long Covid. “You think it’s a breathing problem. If you’ve got chest pains, they would much rather see you” advised the presenter.
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According to Martin, "minutes made a difference". He said: "By the time they got to me, my kidneys were at 30%, my liver was at 30%, my lungs weren’t getting the oxygen and at any point, I could have had a heart attack. The heart would have been strangled by itself.”
Luckily for Martin, that was not the case and he is set to return to filming next month. In a post on Twitter, Martin told fans: "I'm trying to be positive but it’s hard not to sometimes reflect on the “what if’s..."
Martin has hosted Homes Under the Hammer since it started in 2003 and is determined to make it to his 20th milestone year as a co-host. The daytime series, which is one of the BBC’s most successful, gets 1.5m viewers per episode.
Despite Martin’s eagerness to get back to the show, his wife says that it will be a "slow process" and the event has been somewhat of a "reset" for her husband. She said: “During times like this, you start to realise what’s important in life.” Appearing on This Morning in a bid to help others, Martin urged his fans to get help from a doctor if they have concerns.
