Richard Bacon has given up alcohol following his recent battle with pneumonia, which resulted in him being put into a medically-induced coma.
The broadcaster returned home last week, after spending seven days in the coma, and he’s now discussed the lifestyle changes he’s putting in place following his spell of illness.
Speaking on BBC Radio 5 Live, Richard said: “I’ve decided to really, really embrace health from here on in.
“I’ve always drunk too much, I’ve always drunk too quickly, so I’m giving up drinking altogether forever as a result of what happened to me.
“Because if I don’t affect some sort of really, really positive change out of this, then it’s a giant waste of everyone’s time… So I’m using it to affect positive change.
“It’s something I’ve been thinking about anyway. I want to do something different, I want to look back in 10, 20 years and think, ‘This was the moment I changed my life’.”
Richard also revealed he and his wife, Rebecca, are having therapy to process their ordeal.
“We’re both big believers in therapy,” he said. “We live in a town in which people believe in therapy in Los Angeles.
“The next stage for me is about dealing with the psychological scars.”
Since leaving hospital, Richard has opened up about the seriousness of his hospital stay, stating that doctors told him he would “probably” die if they didn’t induce the coma.
“My blood oxygen level went down to 70%, and when you go below 70% basically you are looking at death or brain damage - but more likely death,” he explained. “I hit 70% and for the first two nights, I have since found out, I came quite close to death.”
After leaving hospital, he thanked his family for their support, tweeting about his wife: ”Every facet of my life would be worse without Rebecca in it. How will I ever thank her?
“I was in a coma for nine or ten nights (I just learned). That’s a lot of staring at your husband and his pipes. And a lot of worry.”