Opera singer Russell Watson said yesterday that he was "happy to be alive" as he was discharged from hospital on his daughter's birthday following an operation on a brain tumour.
Watson, 40, spoke a few emotional words to waiting media as he left the Alexandra Hospital in Cheadle, Cheshire.
Pushed in a wheelchair and flanked by his daughters Hannah, eight, and Rebecca, 13, he said he was feeling "better than I was when I c
ame in".
He thanked fans for their "amazing" support, adding: "I'm just happy to be alive and with my children at the moment. I'm very emotional right now.
"It's my daughter's birthday – she's 13 – and I didn't think I would get to see that."
The Salford-born singer had tears in his eyes as he was helped into a black Audi and driven away.
He underwent a three-hour life-saving operation on the tumour last Thursday after falling ill while putting the finishing touches to his new album.
It was his second operation on the tumour in 12 months. He was first struck down with it last year and made a full recovery, but scans revealed the tumour had grown back after he complained of headaches and loss of vision last Tuesday.
Asked whether Watson thought he was going to die, manager Richard Thompson replied: "We all did. A week ago we were not really sure and because the operation had been delayed so he could see his children that in itself worried us all.
"But he would not go ahead until he had seen them and given them a big hug and that touched us all, and now he is back where he is and he didn't think he would be celebrating his daughter's birthday – he is now and that's a bonus."
Watson will now require an extensive period of rehabilitation, including radiotherapy, but Mr Thompson said fans could look forward to hearing him perform again at some point.
He said: "The body will find a way of healing itself. He needs to now start radiotherapy as soon as possible, and from thereon in we'll give him as much time as he needs to get back to full fitness and get him to do what he does best, and get him back on stage performing."
Mr Thompson also allayed fears that Watson's voice might have been affected because doctors were forced to perform the surgery through the singer's mouth, rather than through his nose as happened last year.
Watson – known as The Voice – had too much scar tissue for surgeons to follow the same route this time.
Mr Thompson said: "We have heard him speak, the operation was through the mouth but it was a complete success.
"There were no complications and, you know, from that perspective it will be a full recovery and it won't affect 'The Voice'."
