RTÉ Radio 1's Ronan Collins has spoken about the health scare which left him paralysed from the waist down, caused by a benign cyst which was subsequently removed in a successful operation.
In an interview with the Sunday World, the 64-year-old radio presenter recalled the loss of sensation in his legs. A benign cyst pressing against spinal nerves was found to be the cause of the paralysis.
"The first sensation I got was of jelly legs. I couldn't really stand properly," Collins recounted. "It came and went during the evening. I went to bed that night and when I woke up the following morning I had very little feeling in my left leg and none in my right leg at all.
"My wife Woody is only over a big back operation so I called my brother who doesn't live very far away. He took me to my GP and by that stage I was feeling very nauseous. He called an ambulance and I was brought to Connolly Hospital where I went to A&E. I had no pain but the legs weren't working so it wasn't nice."
In Beaumont Hospital, the veteran presenter later underwent an emergency MRI. "I was an emergency case. I was paralysed at this stage beyond my belly button. It was very distressing but I was still calm," he said. "They did a super-duper MRI and they described it as a cyst pressing against my spinal cord and it needed to be removed immediately."
The subsequent operation to remove the cyst was deemed "a great success" and Collins regained feeling in his legs.
After five weeks away from his popular weekday radio programme, he is now recovering and hopes to be back on air soon.
