'TUMOUR GOT SO BIG IT PUSHED SKULL UP AND OUT'

Actor says he's lucky to be alive after lime-sized mass discovered inside his brain

- JONATHON HILL & HANNAH COTTRELL PA REAL LIFE

A WELSH actor said he nearly died after a large tumour grew undetected for more than a decade inside his brain.

Craig Russell, known for his roles in TV shows such as Hollyoaks and Netflix's Queen Cleopatra, has shared his near-death experience which resulted in him having a deformed skull.

Craig, 48, from Cwmtwrch in the Swansea Valley and now living in Falmouth in Cornwall with his wife Kate, 40, and their two sons Teddy, 10 and Henry, seven, said he first noticed there might be a problem when he began forgetting things and then had migraines in September 2022.

He then described a harrowing incident where a "whooshing" came from the back of his head when he gave a scream during filming for 2024 film Edge of Summer which he said "nearly caused me to collapse".

By January 2023, grappling with deteriorating health, Craig admitted he was "all over the place" until Kate urged him to book an appointment with his GP. During the consultation he recalled how the doctor realised Craig was losing vision in his left eye and swiftly arranged a CT scan.

Hours after the scan Craig's GP telephoned with unsettling news that they had "found something" within the imagery, prompting an urgent referral for additional MRI examinations.

The scans revealed he had a substantial benign tumour within his cranium comparable in dimensions to a compressed lime.