Robbie Williams spent 7 days in ICU after 'abnormalities' in his brain were detected

Robbie Williams cancelled his Russia tour in September after falling seriously ill, which was later found to be some abnormalities in his brain that "looked like blood". The singer recently revealed how the health scare motivated him to adopt a healthy lifestyle.

"My left arm went numb and I couldn't stop dribbling out of the side of my mouth," the 43-year-old told The Sun, revealing more on the illness. "I had a headache and I was also having trouble breathing. I couldn't get a full breath."

Soon after cancelling his Russia tour, the Let Me Entertain You singer had said that he has "been recovering from an illness" after being in the intensive care unit for a week. Now, Williams has revealed that he was admitted to the intensive care unit after becoming ill while backstage at a stadium in Zurich on 2 September.

Williams performed after a doctor cleared him and despite knowing he was ill, he was prepared to go to Russia to perform for his fans. However, he was forced to cancel the Russia leg of the tour as he was flown to London, soon after wrapping up the Zurich concert, for emergency tests.

"That was obviously very scary, so the decision was taken out of my hands and I was sent straight to the intensive care unit," he said. "It's very weird to go from being on tour to suddenly being in intensive care, but that's where I found myself."

Williams said while in the intensive care unit he was "confused and scared" as he was lying in a bed attached to tubes. But he believed he was going to be okay as he was being cared for by his near and dear ones.

"They monitored me and gave me an MOT, basically. They checked everything out and eventually, after seven days, they said that I was fit to leave the ICU," he said. "After that, I still had to have a final scan to check that I was okay to fly."

Williams then spent two months in Los Angeles recovering. He said, "I was told to do nothing stressful for a few weeks — just to be, and sleep, and treat myself nicely."

The terrifying health scare reportedly made him realise that he was not in his 20s or 30s anymore. He has started doing yoga and pilates to keep his body in shape, and meditation for his mind, he said.

"I'm a very anxious person, and that had also taken hold of my life, and I needed to find a way to deal with it. The whole experience gave me a real scare because I've been in some dark places before but back then I was 23, or I was 27, or I was 32," he told the paper.

He added, "Once you've been on the planet for 43 years, you realise that, even if you've got everything that I have, you're not invincible. So from now on I'm going to look after myself a lot more carefully."

Williams is married to Ayda Field, 38. They share two children — five-year-old Teddy and three-year-old Charlie.