Gogglebox star Shaun Malone has opened up about nearly dying at just 15 years old from a 'stroke' and spent six months in hospital.
The 24-year-old has appeared on the show alongside his mum Julie, dad Tom Senior and brother Tom Junior since 2014 but many will be unaware of Shaun's battles.
In 2010, Shaun became seriously unwell and he went into a coma after suffering from swelling on the brain after initially being told he had sinusitis.
Talking on the Coaching From The Sofa podcast, Shaun said: "In 2010 I got sinusitis and in some way, the infection found its way back to my brain.
"My brain started swelling and my skull started crushing it so my mum took me to A&E saying 'look he’s poorly' and they said it was sinusitis.
"And then I collapsed one day at home and I ended up going into a coma and they said to my mum and dad that I had a less than 10 per cent chance of living."
Shaun was in a coma for a few weeks and his parents were told that he had suffered brain damage.
"When I woke up my brain damage affected me in some ways, like my memory but mostly the way it affected me was with my left side," he explained on the podcast.
"I essentially had a stroke, I couldn't move my left arm, my left leg, even the left side of my face. My sister has got pictures of me trying to eat."
But this had other effects on his mental health which he says came after coming out of hospital and having to re complete his year 11 school year.
"I had gone from a very outgoing young kid to then having all my independence and everything taken away from me," he said.
"I had nothing. In school I always thought I'd be alright because I was doing well with my acting and stuff so I thought that was me for life and this thing came.
"I didn't know what I was going to do."
But a physio therapist told Shaun's mum Julie about the Manchester United Foundation which he then joined and started playing disability football.
However, he did at one point think he'd be playing for the first team.
"I went down there and it was the best thing I ever did. My mum says all the time that it's the best decision she ever made because being around different people with disabilities, it put everyone on a level playing field.
"And not only did playing football in that way help my mental health and help me get more confident and more outgoing, it also physically helped my recovery."
Shaun has since gone on to help others through coaching.
And he couldn't appear on the podcast without out being asked about appearing on Channel 4 hit Gogglebox.
This lead Shaun to explaining his absence from the show for the majority of the last series.
"I have been missing because my missus is pregnant so I moved in with her while this was going on," Shaun explained referring to the coronavirus lockdown.
"And you can't go between households so I haven't been able to go into my mum and dad's house to do it."
Hopefully we'll see Shaun back with the rest of the family when Gogglebox returns in September.
