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Former model Penny Lancaster has shared her terrifying ordeal where she believed she was "dying" following an emergency operation. She had to undergo surgery to correct a slipped disc in the lead-up to her nuptials with rock legend Sir Rod Stewart. In 2006, during a trip to New York, Penny collapsed in agonising pain and subsequent MRI scans in London revealed that the slipped disc was dangerously close to severing several nerves. In her new book Someone Like Me, the 54 year old recounts her harrowing experience on the operating table, believing she was on the brink of death. She recalled: "When I shut my eyes, a bright white light appeared. I'm dying, I concluded. This is the white tunnel of light that everyone talks about. "Insane, the things that go through your mind when you're hallucinating. These cannot be my last moments, I thought, worrying that I'd be found dead and still looking terrified," reports the Express. "So I laid myself out serenely, clasped my hands across my chest and closed my eyes. When I woke, I was surprised I was still alive." Penny believes the hallucinations were caused by the effects of the morphine administered by the medical team, but no one had warned her about the potential impact. She added: "After many reassurances from the surgeon that he was the man for the job, no one had explained to me how the morphine might make me feel. "Immediately after I came round from the operation, I had a violent reaction to it. I couldn't stop vomiting. Then, every time I lay down, the flowers and the TV in the room started spinning." Penny had wanted to delay the operation due to her impending wedding, but her doctor convinced her to proceed or she would be walking down the aisle "in leg callipers and a colostomy bag". The smitten couple tied the knot on 16 June 2007 in Portofino, Italy. The pair have two sons - Alastair and Aiden - but Sir Rod has six additional children from previous relationships. This follows Penny's revelation about how her Loose Women colleagues supported her during a health struggle amidst the Covid-19 pandemic. Speaking to Chris Evans on his Virgin Radio show, Penny disclosed that she has kept a close bond with some of the panellists she met during her stint on the programme. She expressed gratitude for her colleagues who rallied around her as she grappled with what she believed was a mental health issue during lockdown. Penny shared: "One of the other major things was when they saved my life when I thought I was going through depression in the middle of lockdown, which I think a lot of people were suffering from. "But in fact it was the menopause and it was my Loose Women girls that went 'darling Penny, this is not depression. This is your hormones.' So, they've been with me on many a journey and I'm so grateful for them."
