Texas guitarist ready to go back on tour after brain haemorrhage nightmare

TEXAS guitarist Ally McErlaine has spoken for the first time about surviving a brain haemorrhage which doctors believed would kill him.

The Glasgow-born musician, who was given a 1 per cent chance of survival, made an incredible recovery from the illness despite his family being told five times to say their goodbyes.

Doctors told the 42-year-old's wife, Shelly, that it was astonishing that he had made it to hospital in the first place when the aneurysm struck in September 2009. They said that most people who were admitted with the same condition died in intensive care.

Now McErlaine is determined to put the ordeal behind him by returning to the tour circuit with Texas and taking part in September's Great Scottish Run.

In an interview, the musician said: "I had suffered a 'grade five' aneurysm, which is the worst sort you can have. It wasn't localised to one spot of my brain either - it covered my whole brain.

"My surgeon told Shelly that 80 per cent of grade fives never made it to hospital; they usually drop dead on the spot. And the ones who do make it into intensive care usually die there. So the chances of me surviving were less than 1 per cent."

After undergoing brain surgery, McErlaine was in a coma for three months and when he woke up his ordeal wasn't over. He contracted a number of infections, including pneumonia, and endured another nine operations. Doctors summoned his family to his bedside five times believing he was close to death.

McErlaine also had to cope with temporary short term memory loss. He could remember events from his childhood, but had no memory of being in Texas and had to be taught how to use ordinary items such as a toothbrush.

"I was pretty much dead on more than one occasion," he said. "But I had the easy part, lying there in a coma. It was my poor family and friends who suffered the most. After all that to have so much on my plate is such a blessing."

McErlaine says he is looking forward to going on tour with Sharleen Spiteri and the rest of his bandmates in Texas. He will also play a series of gigs with his own band, Red Sky July.

Meanwhile, preparing for the Great Scottish Run has given McErlaine another way of putting his illness behind him. He will run 13 miles around his hometown of Glasgow. "I don't care how long it takes me - I'm just glad to still be around to give it a try," he said. "After three months in a coma and two months in wheelchair, running has given me a tremendous sense of freedom."