Watson 'lucky to survive surgery'

Russell Watson was discharged from hospital in October

Classical singer Russell Watson has described how he thought he was "not going to make it" through emergency brain surgery to remove a tumour.

He said doctors had warned that his condition would be "touch and go" following the procedure in October.

Watson told GMTV that he would not be singing "for a while" but expected his voice to recover in the long term.

The 41-year-old admitted he was "not really looking forward" to a lengthy course of radiotherapy in the New Year.

"But I think that maybe when it starts, I will feel like this will be the end [of my treatment] and there will be no comeback for the tumour next year," he said.

The singer first had surgery a year ago, and was unaware that his tumour had returned until he became seriously ill, which he said was "very scary", with symptoms including loss of vision.

I remember hearing lots of medical people saying words like 'haemorrhage' and lots of very scary things Russell Watson

"I wasn't really that aware of what was going on anyway. I was flitting in and out of consciousness.

"I remember hearing lots of medical people saying words like 'haemorrhage' and lots of very scary things," Watson said of his treatment.

The surgery was performed via his mouth, which made doctors concerned that his voice could be damaged.

Watson was rushed to hospital in Greater Manchester while putting the finishing touches to his latest album, Outside In, which is currently at number 24 in the UK chart.