Claude Littner was told he had six months to live after being diagnosed with cancer.
Claude Littner
The 'Apprentice' star has opened up about being told what he thought was a hernia was actually a rare form of blood cancer named Non-Hodgkin Lymphona after he'd had a row with Lord Alan Sugar.
Claude - who was chief executive at Tottenham Hotspur Football Club under Lord Sugar at the time - explained: "I am very lucky to be alive, you know. I thought I had a hernia but lots of players do, so I wasn't worried. Then one day I had an argument with Alan, which is very rare.
"We were trading insults so I took a day off and popped to the doctor to check it out. But he said it wasn't a hernia and packed me straight off to see a specialist. I was told I had six months to live.
"It came as a huge shock, obviously. You think, 'Well, that's it'. You start the treatment and just feel powerless."
However, the 66-year-old business expert - who has two children with his wife of nearly 40 years, Thelma - has now been clear for 15 years after his specialist decided to try a pioneering stem-cell transplant to help his body make healthy new blood.
He told the Daily Mirror newspaper: "I was only the 32nd person to have one, but first they had to find a donor whose tissues matched. I have one sister, Tina, but they said siblings aren't a guaranteed match. They tested her anyway and, by an absolute miracle, she was an excellent match. So my sister saved my life. She doesn't stop reminding me of that - but she really did"
Tagged in Lord Alan Sugar