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Houses under the hammer star Martin Roberts revealed that he did not know how long he had left to live.
61-year-old, who presented the popular BBC property auction series as of 2017, passed a a number of health complications in that period.
In 2022, a TV presenter revealed that doctors have he told him he only had a few hours to live after he experienced a pericardial effusion, a condition caused by too much fluid around the heart, and was rushed to emergency life-saving surgery. At the time he thought it was chest pains the consequences of the long Covid.
After the surgery, Roberts admitted that he still had “cramps” in his chest, which worried him. He admitted “I don’t know how much time I have left”, because he went against the advice to “slow down”.
“The physical side of things took a lot longer than we thought we’d get around,” he said MailOnline.
“I still have cramps and every time I get a burning sensation in my chest, I panic. As anyone who has had any heart problems would attest.”
He explained that he was only told much later that he “probably had maybe two or three hours to live” when he underwent emergency surgery, according to the consultant.
“It was two to three hours away from being dead and not being able to be here and not see my kids and fulfill all my ambitions and do all the things I want to do,” he explained.
“So that’s kind of the psychological side of it. It takes a lot longer to get over than the physical side.”
But Roberts said despite medical advice to slow down, he jumped at the chance to do more than ever.
“I was told to slow down and calm down and all that stuff, and I totally went away [the] another way,” he said.
“That’s why I have this project in Wales where I’m renovating a pub, for the community, and we’re using local kids to do the work and bringing in kids who are inactive and disadvantaged, giving them the opportunity to get building skills. I just do a lot of good.”
He said his additional projects were influenced by the need to do as much as possible in the time he had left, as he was not sure how long he would live.
“I don’t know how much time I have left, so I just want to do as much as I can to help,” he said.
“It’s not really about the money. It’s just about making a difference, because that’s what you’ll be remembered for.”