Bachelors lead singer Con Cluskey thanks life-saving hospital staff

Nov 19 2009 By Emma Davison

A STAR from the 1960s came close to bleeding to death in Huddersfield when an artery in his leg was torn.

But thanks to ground-breaking surgery Con Cluskey survived to perform once again to his legion of fans.

Now the lead singer with 60s pop group The Bachelors had told the Examiner how he owes his life to surgeons at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

Con, who lives in Elland, said: “I am very lucky to be alive and I can’t thank the hospital staff enough.

“Without their skill I would not be here today ready to get back to performing for my fans.”

Con panicked when he woke in bed at home to find himself covered in a pool of his own blood.

The star, whose band once outsold The Beatles, was driven by his wife Kay to accident and emergency at Calder Royal Hospital in Halifax where he passed out twice.

But because there was not the right equipment or specialists available to treat him, Con was transferred by ambulance to Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.

He said: “The staff were phenomenal and I was immediately X-rayed to try to find the source of the problem with no success.

“Then I was brought to surgery when an endoscoptomy was performed, but there was so much blood in my bowel nothing could be found.

“As a last resort a telescope was inserted into an artery at the top of my leg and fed up to my bowel where several tears were discovered in the artery through which blood was escaping.”

During a four-hour procedure a team of surgeons performed microsurgery on Con’s artery, stitching it together with wire clips.

Con was once again the centre of attention as a room full of doctors and nurses observed the surgery, which is a new procedure.

He said: “I was conscious throughout and able to watch the operation on the screen which was a bit like watching a TV programme

“I felt no pain whatsoever, the only inconvenience was that my leg kept going into spasm.”