Heart Stopped During Transplant
TalkSPORT Broadcaster Alan Brazil Reveals Heart Stopped During Life-Saving Liver Transplant
TalkSPORT broadcaster Alan Brazil, 66, has returned briefly to his Breakfast Show after undergoing a life-saving liver transplant, revealing that he was on the operating table for several hours and that his heart stopped briefly during surgery before restarting on its own. Brazil said he had been off air for months due to unclear ongoing health problems, later explaining that specialists and a stream of medical appointments led to the transplant decision. He credited Cambridge’s Addenbrooke’s Hospital staff with saving his life and described a difficult recovery period that left him “on the mend” and not yet fully back to normal. Speaking with colleagues including Gabby Agbonlahor and Ally McCoist, he said he hopes to return to his regular slot in a few weeks, with the sporting calendar—including the World Cup—helping keep him motivated. The reports follow earlier time away from the show, including missed appearances tied to illness.
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Brazil gave a precise account of the day his transplant was scheduled: he said he “finished at quarter to ten and got a shout at 10am to phone the hospital,” was told to get to Cambridge “right now,” and by “2:30 that afternoon… they opened me up and they transplanted my liver”; he said he was on the operating table for “eight hours” and that his heart stopped briefly “but it came back on its own.”
Brazil said the decision to go through with the transplant wasn’t one he wanted at first, adding: “I didn’t want to do it, but my kids and Jill [his wife] made me do it,” and he later described fearing he was nearing the end: “I swear, I thought my days were numbered,” crediting “this guy [Dr Gibbs]” as a “legend.”
On recovery, Brazil said he spent “a week in intensive care” followed by “four weeks in there,” explaining: “it got me down,” but that he is now “feeling really good.”
His broadcast absence was not the first: one report said he “was forced to miss presenting for talkSPORT during the final two days at Cheltenham Festival” about two months earlier, and that he “previously had a spell off air in January due to illness.”
Brazil’s initial public disclosure came via social media, with one account noting he “initially announced his surgery, posting a video on Instagram,” but that he “did not get bogged down in the details.”
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