Susannah Constantine, 61, was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery when doctors told her she was at risk of a brain haemorrhage or paralysis and said: ‘You’re lucky to be alive’

Susannah Constantine was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery as doctors told her she was ‘lucky to be alive’.

The TV personality, 61, was told she needed surgery immediately or risk paralysis, a brain haemorrhage or a stroke.

Susannah suffered from a venous fistula, an abnormal connection between an artery and a vein.

After the worrying ordeal, Susannah said she initially brushed off her pins and needle symptoms in her arm.

Susanna told me OK! magazine that she received sharp warnings from doctors during last year’s health crisis.

She added: “They said, ‘It’s Hobson’s choice: if you don’t have the operation you have a one in three chance of having a brain haemorrhage, becoming paralyzed or having a stroke.

“If you have surgery, you have a one in 10 chance of the same things happening during surgery.”

Susannah’s condition is typically induced surgically or occurs as a result of a congenital or genetic abnormality.

She said: ‘I had a health problem and quite a major operation. It was very rare that I had a leak: the arteries bled into the capillaries, compressed the spinal cord and affected my brain.’

It caused symptoms such as tingling in her arm, as well as a swollen left eye and ringing in her ears.

Last year, Susannah spoke out about the scary incident for the first time when she revealed she was rushed to hospital after struggling with a ‘withering arm’.

The presenter said on Instagram that she had been put on a drip after the health scare, which turned out to be ‘more serious’ than she first thought.

Fortunately, Susannah assured her followers that the health issue was ‘all resolved now’, and praised the ‘amazing’ NHS and neurosurgeons for their care of her.

Susanna posted a photo of her arm connected to a cannula and wrote: ‘A withered arm turned out to be a symptom of something more serious.

‘Everything is now sorted thanks to our ailing but still great NHS, where we are fortunate to have some of the most gifted doctors (and in this case neurosurgeons) in the world. @brainandspine. Forever grateful.”

Following Susannah’s post, many of her famous friends expressed their well-wishes in the comments, including Stacey Dooley, Faye Tozer and Lisa Snowdon.

Susannah previously revealed she suffers from hearing loss and shared details about her devastating diagnosis and the treatment that changed her life in an interview with The mirror.

She spent a lifetime in loud environments, juggling between production studios and live performances – but it was the inability to hear birds sing that troubled her.

The award-winning author realized she was having problems with her hearing earlier this year, but gave in The problem could have lasted a year and a half.

The famous writer – who lives in the countryside – said the birdsong was one of the most comforting things for her, as she suddenly couldn’t hear it anymore.

‘It was a cacophony of noise without clarity and differentiation. Then I realized it. Well, that in combination with my children [Joe, 23, Esme, 21 and Cece, 18] calling me deaf and getting very frustrated with me,” she said.

Susannah admitted that social situations were becoming increasingly difficult to tolerate, with ambient noise being ‘terrible’.

‘I couldn’t hear the person sitting next to me. I had become an amateur lip reader, but if I couldn’t see someone’s face, I had no idea what they were saying. It was embarrassing,” she revealed.

The clothing designer opened up about her ’embarrassment’ in seeking help with her problem – as she admitted she had always feared age-related hearing loss.

‘There can be a huge stigma attached to wearing hearing aids. I felt like I might as well go to the funeral home and order my coffin, I felt so old,” Susannah explained.

But things took a turn for the worse when the TV star decided to book a hearing test with Boots, finally overcoming the embarrassing stigma.

Recalling the moment she took her hearing test, Susannah said she sat in a soundproof booth with headphones on while listening to a persistent beep, only pressing the button when she could hear it.

The celebrity style consultant was initially confident everything was going well and was pretty sure she was ‘not deaf’ – but there were several pitches she didn’t know she couldn’t hear.

The test revealed that years of wear and tear – such as listening to music on headphones at a very high volume – left the author in need of a hearing aid.

The BBC star has undoubtedly had a life full of sensational moments, including touring with the Scissor Sisters in the past – where, as a huge fan of live music, she often got up close and personal with speakers.

Despite the initially devastating diagnosis, Susannah admitted that hearing aids changed her life forever. She described her Phonak as “transformative” and “comfortable.”

The former fashion journalist joked that the hearing technology is something like “NASA” and that it only blew her away after she tried it out.

Susannah explained that these types of hearing aids can become a comfortable part of your life because you can wear them while swimming or washing your hair – as long as you are careful.

She also said they have built-in Bluetooth, which she often uses to listen to music and make phone calls, although “the music isn’t as good as through headphones.”

The TV personality also revealed that her eldest daughter admitted that her hearing had improved significantly.

Susannah remembered her very first test, which was a loud, big party.

The award-winning author revealed that she was actually doing better than many of those at the party – with many asking to turn down the volume to talk, while for her it was all ‘perfectly positioned’.

Then things took a big turn for Susannah, as she said she was finally starting to embrace her new accessory.

She felt even better when she realized that her previous shame was so unmotivated, because many people around her showed support and even surprise at how “subtle” the technology was.

The writer recalled pulling her hair up and asking people if they had noticed ‘anything new’ about her – with some hilariously asking if she ‘had a piercing’.

The TV star admitted that seeking help for hearing loss proved to be groundbreaking as it allowed her to appreciate what she was missing – and take control of her life.

Susannah also urged anyone who notices symptoms of hearing loss to get tested.