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Glasgow Live
Glasgow Live
Adam Chapman & Abbie Meehan

Glasgow star Darius Danesh faced two tough health battles prior to his death

It has been revealed that Scottish singer Darius Danesh battled with two life-threatening health conditions before his tragic passing on Tuesday, August 16 2022.

The former Pop Idol star was pronounced dead at his US apartment on Tuesday, as his family released a statement: ""It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Darius Campbell Danesh." The cause of death is still unknown, as reported by The Express.

However, Darius had battled with health scares over the years, and most recently developed bacterial meningitis after drinking dirty water from The Thames. Back in 2010, Darius spoke to Hello! Magazine about his close call when he was involved in a car crash.

READ MORE - Glasgow performer Darius Campbell Danesh found dead as family confirm Pop Idol star's passing

Darius was in the passenger seat of a Porsche that hit a wall going at 70 mph, after skidding on oil on a road in Spain. The accident resulted in a broken neck, and 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 in 2015, Darius was put into a coma after drinking water from The Thames. Darius was filming a promotion clip for his charity Fresh2O Water filter, which is said to remove 99.9 per cent of all known "water-borne pathogens, bacteria and viruses."

The singer drank the water from a Thames sewage outlet using his filter, only to find out it was the tester filter, and not the real one he should have been using. At the time, Darius said: "In order to raise funds to get the water filters to Africa, we did a demonstration video down at the Thames next to a sewage outlet.

“The filters remove 99.99% of all known water-borne pathogens, bacteria and viruses. 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.

"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.”

When Darius collapsed in 2015 and was put into a coma, his mother Avril Danesh was undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy for breast cancer - but did not leave her son's bedside the entire time. Darius added: "As I came out of the coma I remember my mum sitting beside the bed.

“Yet she was sat next to me with tears in her eyes telling my brother that they almost lost me.”

Tributes have been flooding in for the singer, songwriter and actor from Glasgow, including A-list celebrities like Simon Cowell and Sheridan Smith. Our thoughts remain with all who knew Darius at this sad time.

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