Homes Under Hammer star's 10-hour surgery left him looking like 'terminator'

16 May 2024 , 08:00

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Martin has had a couple of near-death experiences

Homes Under the Hammer host Martin Roberts has had two near death experiences, one left the insides of his arm exposed.

Martin has had his fair share of medical emergencies, so is obviously hoping there won't be any more in the near future. And now the Homes Under the Hammer presenter is understandably very spiritual after looking death in the face, not once but twice.

Two years ago Martin was told he had been hours away from dying after his pericardium, the fluid sack that protects the heart, had dangerously expanded, putting pressure on the organ. He started suffering pain and was rushed to hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery that saved his life.

But it's not the first time Martin has experienced a frightening health issue. In 2020 after a fan asked him why he had been wearing a cast on his arm in an "old Hammer" episode that they'd watched, he revealed he'd had an accident doing DIY on a property and had sliced through his arm with an angle grinder. "I still have the scars," he wrote on Twitter.

Martin recently revealed more details about the awful incident and said the tool sliced through his arm and was close to an artery, which would have been life-threatening had it been cut. The 60 year old said: "I was doing some DIY in Devon using an axle grinder to take a fireplace out. It fell to the floor and sliced through several tendons in my forearm and was close to an artery - it looked like something from The Terminator and required a 10-hour emergency operation."

Brit 'saw her insides' after being cut open by propeller on luxury diving trip

Martin was left with a devastating injury that needed emergency surgery

Thankfully Martin recovered but he thinks the ordeal was foreseen by a palm reader he saw five years before the accident. She was shocked at a break in his life line on his hand that she said was surrounded by angels. Remembering the moment, he said: "I put my palm out and she stopped and went: 'Oh, gee... I don't think I've ever seen such a profound break in a life line - and you've got angels here.'

"I was really freaked out and went home and doubled my life insurance! I connected it [the accident] to the palm reader and for that reason it's put me off ever wanting to have a full psychic reading as I have so much I still want to do."

Last year he faced more pain when his father died at the age of 90. He said he had passed away peacefully but single child Martin, whose mum died 20 years ago, had to deal with the grief on his own. He told his fans the news as tears rolled down his face and said: "The loss of a parent is something we all have to deal with and there are much worse losses I know, the loss of a child and stuff like that. But right now I feel really alone and horrible. So any words you've got would be appreciated."

More recently, Martin, who shares two children with wife Kirsty, worried fans when he took to X, formerly Twitter, and shared a late-night post about uncertainty. He wrote: "Does anyone else feel vaguely reassured in a world of chaos and uncertainty, that weebles wobble, but they don't fall down?."

Shortly afterwards he posted again and tried to reassure his concerned followers, writing: "If you're trying to read deep and meaningful stuff in to my weeble tweet, don't. I'm just a) tired and emotional and b) struggling to grasp the complexities of everything and clinging on to childhood simplicities. All that matters is they don't. Fall down."

Are you a fan of Martin and his shows? Let us know in the comments below.

Beth Hardie