Homes under the Hammer presenter Martin Roberts has launched his ‘riskiest ever venture’ after being hours from death when he had health problems last year. The popular TV star was struck down with serious complications after his heart became inflamed in a potentially lethal condition.
Mr Roberts said the experience had left him wanting to ‘give something back’ and in an interview with The Sun said he wanted to re-open a closed railway tunnel as a tourist attraction. BBC star Martin said the £15 million project will take two years in Rhondda Valley in South Wales.
He told The Sun: “It’s without doubt my riskiest ever venture. We are going into it at a time when around 20 pubs a week are closing, energy prices have gone through the roof and people have got less to spend to go out.
Read more: Martin Roberts issues heartfelt message saying fans' response 'helped more than you will ever know'
“So much could go wrong. It would make great telly and I decided it would be fun to make a TV documentary out of it.” He added: “I’m relishing it. I love a challenge but I’m not so silly that I just reckon I can do it on my own. I am gathering a team of local business advisers, people who run pubs, people who design restaurants.
“How do you make a meal, how do you price a burger, how do you choose what goes on a menu? I don’t know. Most importantly it is about showcasing the locals.”
How Martin became involved with the society begins via his frequent trips to the south Wales valleys filming for BBC’s Homes Under The Hammer, where the beauty of the area and the community spirit really captivated him. Martin says: “I basically fell in love with it - I fell in love with the area, I fell in love with the people, I fell in love with everything about this part of the world - it’s an undiscovered gem.”
Martin was left hours from death last year as he was rushed to hospital. “I was hallucinating and I couldn’t write things down properly,” he said. “Letters would be in the wrong order when I was filling in the form at the hospital. The wait time when we arrived was four hours but within 45 seconds of arriving, a nurse saw me, and things went fast from there.”
Through scans, they discovered he had pericardial effusion - a condition that saw the lining of his heart inflamed and filled with liquid, which was putting pressure on his heart. After the surgery, he discovered that his liver and kidneys were operating at jus 30 per cent and that his lungs were weakening.
“I should have been on the scrap- heap, so little inside me was working as it should,” he said. “I surrendered myself to the professionals and it all seemed to happen so fast there wasn’t time for me to panic.”
Earlier this month Martin posted an emotional video to fans in the wake of his father’s death. Martin, 59, told his followers that his father had died the day before aged 90, and asked for their support during such a difficult time.
He captioned the footage: “A huge thank you from the bottom of my heart for your condolences, kind words and love. I said I consider you my friends, and you’ve shown the true meaning of friendship. It’s meant the absolute world to me and helped more than you will ever know.”
Read next:
- Married at First Sight stars Matt and Marilyse confirm they've split
- Mike Tindall shares heartbreak of baby loss as he admits 'it was hard to deal with'
- Martin Roberts issues heartfelt message saying fans' response 'helped more than you will ever know'
- 'Superhuman' Stacey Solomon tells fans she 'can't function' in updates on struggles of being a mum again
- BBC's Fiona Bruce steps back from charity role over claims of trivialising domestic violence
