A RADIO presenter who complained of headaches for more than 20 years is recovering after a five-hour brain operation to repair what doctors described as the largest aneurysm they have ever seen.
Father-of-two Tim Ellingford put the headaches down to migraines and took over-the-counter painkillers.
But when he developed double vision, he was referred by his optician to hospital, where doctors found a blood-filled swelling the size of a walnut on an artery inside his head.
Medics feared it could burst so carried out a risky operation to insert 27 coils to prevent any further swelling. The most that had ever been used before was nine.
Mr Ellingford, 39, who presents BBC Radio Cleveland programme, Songs From The Shows, said if the swelling had burst he would have died.
"I feel so lucky," he said. "It's so nice to be back to normal.
"I never thought it could be so serious. It could have burst at any time, or the operation could have left me being unable to speak or with a variety of paralyses.
"The doctors said it was the biggest swelling they had seen and had to fit 27 of these coils.
"If it had have been left it could have exploded, but I wanted to have the operation despite the risks.
"Now I feel fantastic and I'm really looking forward to getting back to work."
Mr Ellingford, who lives in Hartlepool with wife, Katherine, 37, and children Rebecca, seven, and James, three, started suffering bad migraines last December. He had a history of migraines and put the worsening pain down to the extra stresses of Christmas.
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