Bob Brolly building up his strength on a short stroll near his home in Coventry

THE Midlands best-known Irishman is well on the road to recovery after suffering a heart attack which at the time he feared might claim his life.
Bob Brolly, who hosts the ever popular Irish show on BBC Radio WM and Coventry and Warwickshire each Sunday and is a renowned live performer admits at the time he feared he was not even going to make it out of his bedroom, never mind get back to the entertaining and fundraising he is famed for.
It was the night of Monday November 13 when Bob, who also presents a weekly daytime show on BBC Coventry & Warwickshire, awoke with severe chest pains.
He had been feeling unwell earlier that day but had had one of his customary busy weekends as normal, gigging with his band and doing his Sunday radio show.
He said: "I went to bed at around 12.30am and then all hell broke loose. I thought it could only be one of two things, either having a baby or a heart attack and I ruled one of them out.
"I had been asleep and it was as if someone had broken in and hit me with a baseball bat. I thought what the hell was that?
"Then there was another one. I started getting short of breath and it felt like a steamroller was on my chest."
Bob managed to get downstairs but was reluctant to call 999. Instead he got his brother Paul's girlfriend Anne-Marie to take him to hospital.
In the ensuing panic he went to his local hospital, Coventry and Warwick, only to discover it no longer had an A&E - it had shut down around a year ago.
"We were hammering on the door and then security came out, fortunately one of the lads recognised me. They treated me on the corridor floor and kept me going until I got to Walsgrave."
Bob joked about the fact they were trying to hide the defibrillators they brought down in case they needed to administer CPR but he told them they held no fear for him, as he had seen them used on his brother Paul several times after he had an accident which nearly killed him.
After being taken to Coventry's Walsgrave Hospital Bob was put under the care of a specialist team and admitted to a ward where he remained for several days.
An incision was made in his arm in order to put a camera in to see what had happened and they discovered there had been a blockage in one of his main arteries - Bob even got to see the footage.
Then a device called a stent was put in, which acts like a bridge to keep the artery open, which will remain in place.
Bob was full of praise for the doctors and nurses who treated him at both hospitals.
"All the doctors and nurses who helped me were absolutely amazing. People knock the NHS but it is the best place on the planet when you need it," he said.
Ever the joker, the renowned teetotaller, non-smoker and former footballer, said he had to see the funny side that many of his friends in the music business have enjoyed such 'vices' over the years.
"A lot of the lads I have been in bands with drink and smoke and I was saying you are going to kill yourself. Now they are saying they are going to come round and bring me beer and fags, taking the mickey.
"You feel invincible, especially if you don't drink and smoke and play football a bit, as I still do occasionally.
"There I was thinking I am not going to die yet then something like this happens and you think 'that was close'."
Bob, a self-confessed workaholic, admits he will now have to take things easy and be more careful.
"I have had a warning and will have to stop running around like a headless chicken and maybe relax a bit more but I don't like doing nothing."
Although he does enjoy time on his own, Bob admits it forms a small part of his life, even when it comes to watching television he is only interested in football and the news. Most of his time is spent either gigging, doing his radio shows or fundraising.
"I enjoy it and wouldn't do it if I didn't. I want to keep doing it too but I will have to be a little bit more careful. That was one of the problems but I didn't feel under any pressure or stress. "You put yourself under pressure without thinking of it."
Something he might normally consider as a normal day's work, doing his radio show then driving down to Norwich for a gig is the kind of hectic schedule he will be thinking twice about from now on.
Bob, whose Brolly and Friends fundraising drive this year raised more than £52,000 for breast cancer research said he will carry on fundraising.
"To raise that sort of money you have to be here, there and everywhere."
The good news for his fans is that he says he is now feeling fantastic and looking forward to getting back to work.
His first radio show will be the BBC Irish show on Sunday December 18 and the following week he will return to the airwaves on Coventry & Warwickshire.
His first gig will be at Bescot Stadium on Boxing Day and he will be returning to Soham to play New Year's Eve.
As well as having the doctors telling him to slow down he has also had his family telling him to take life a little easier. He says he was told off by his mother for trying to do the vacuuming the day after he was discharged from hospital. One of a family of seven, his mum has been calling in every day to soup and stew. An ex-girlfriend even dropped by to cook for him and his brother, though he admits she had to take the cellophane off a new cooker that had been bought several months ago.
One of the modifications he knows he is going to have to make is to reduce his curry consumption. As well as exercising and being monitored at a special gym he has also been under the care of a dietician.
"I am addicted to curries and my weight has gone up by seven kilos in two years and my cholesterol shot up from 4 to 5.6, which is all down to my diet."
He has always bee a curry fan and two years ago followed the advice of a specialist who warned him nodules on his voicebox could be caused by eating too much hot and spicy food late at night. After this he opted for milder dishes but now realises that they were also a lot richer and therefore more fattening.
Giving up completely would be a tall order though and Bob has already instructed the chefs at some of his favourite Indian restaurants to come up with some low calorie creations specially for him.
Now healthwise things are looking good, the medics are pleased with his blood pressure and heart rate.
"So far they are delighted with all the readouts and everything seems to be working absolutely fantastically.
"A lot of the medics said we all think we can go on forever but now is the time to take stock a little bit, so for the first time in my life I am not going back to work for six weeks."
Bob admits faith played a big part in the whole episode.
"At times over the years sometimes you feel as if you are without God, like with my brother Paul who was paralysed from the neck down. You think, give us a break and start to doubt it but when the going gets tough there is only one person who is going to help and that's him upstairs. I have always had my faith. Sometimes it is a lot better than others but this really brought it round."
Bob is philosophical about what the future holds, though he knows he had a lucky escape.
"The only time I was worried was when I was in the bedroom. I was struggling to get out of bed and thought - I could die up here. After that you get into a survival mode.
"You only get one heart and I guess I should look after it a little better, though I wasn't too bad before. From now on it's a different ball game."
Bob said as well as thanking the doctors and nurses who looked after him he would also like to thank all the well-wishers who sent him cards. In
all he has had more
than 700.