By Paul Simper
In 1998 comedian Rik Mayall nearly died in a quad bike accident. Now he's back on our screens in a new series, All About George, and ready to make the most of his lucky escape...
Rik Mayall knows he's lucky to be alive. When his quad bike overturned on his south-Devon family retreat seven years ago, he fell into a coma and suffered blood clots on the brain.
"Three-fifths of my brain were clogged up, "he said recently. "I was dead for five days."
It was his Glaswegian wife Barbara who found him underneath the vehicle after the accident. Rik was flown by police helicopter to Derriford Hospital in Plymouth and for weeks the doctors, his family and all his friends feared the worst. He had suffered a brain haemorrhage and a fractured skull. Long-time comedy partner Ade Edmondson sobbed by his pal's bedside as Rik lay there unconscious, and doctors rated his chances of a full recovery no better than 50 per cent.
But, slowly, his condition improved. "At first I could only use the bits of my brain that weren't jammed up with blood," said Rik. "I could 'see' sounds and 'hear' colours, but it was only after the blood was drained out after seven weeks that I started thinking properly again."
Rik, who has three children, Rosie,19, Sidney, 16, and Bonnie, 10, has admitted it was a long, hard o struggle back to full health, and the fact that he is now susceptible to epileptic attacks means he now has to take medication.
He suffered one such attack at Gatwick airport in 2000 on the way to Canada, but he just had time to ask a fellow flyer for help before he collapsed. There have been no more attacks since and, although he initially had a problem learning lines, Rik says he can now do everything that he was able to do before the accident.
As far as work is concerned, it looks as though he may have landed one of his best-ever roles as the worried dad in All About George, a comedy-drama from the creators of Cold Feet.
He is no longer the wild young anarchist of The Young Ones, the 'alternative' Eighties comedy series that catapulted him to fame with his role as manic Cliff Richard fan Rick. Since the accident he can no longer drink alcohol - but Rik thinks it's a small price to pay for good health and a happy family life.
"Your 20s are when you go out raging," said the 47-year-old actor, who next year celebrates his 20th wedding anniversary. "So it was nice of God to smack me when I was 40 and say, 'That's enough being young; no more going out raging.'
"I am aware that I've got another chance, so I value stuff more. I could have been dead, but someone up there said, 'OK, you can have an extension.' It's like being allowed to stay in the pub after hours."
He may have given up the drink and discarded his quad bike - apparently, it's still sitting in his barn - but these days Rik's cup is positively overflowing.