Billy Connolly almost died after doctors failed to spot a life-threatening blood clot in his leg.
The 71-year-old comedian was rushed to hospital in a taxi after he developed a deadly clot in his thigh following surgery on his prostate last year.
His wife Pamela Stephenson, 64, told the Daily Mail newspaper: "I knew it was a clot but the doctors weren't listening to me.
"Eventually I spoke to an intern on the phone, who said, 'Just get him to the hospital right away!' "
The psychologist said her husband was "in agony and crying with pain" as they travelled to the hospital, but he still managed to crack a joke or two on the way.
She explained: "The road was in a very bad condition, so the taxi was bumping over it, and Billy was saying 'Uh-oh, he drives just like you Pamsy!'
"I said, 'Billy, I'm saving your life here, stop going on about my driving.' Even though he was going through so much pain, he never stopped being his hilarious, curmudgeonly, adorable self."
Medical stuff managed to treat the blood clot in time and Billy was discharged from hospital, but the problem emerged again when he was filming a documentary about dealing with death, which aired on ITV in May.
However, his daughter Amy, a researcher on the show, noticed the issue and took him to hospital for treatment.
Billy was diagnosed with prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease - a neurological disorder which affects the central nervous system and brain - on the same day last year, but he has since been given the all-clear from cancer and is trying to keep his brain active with crosswords to help control his Parkinson's.
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