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Claes Hellgren has been missing from the television screen lately.
Now the TV expert reveals the huge drama that was about to cost him his life.
– Then I wouldn’t have survived, he admits to Sportbladet.
Now the handball expert will Claes Hellgren make a comeback in the TV box again. It’s been several months since he was last seen during a Viaplay broadcast and there’s a terrible reason why.
Hellgren in drama
He himself has not wanted to talk about it, but now Hellgren is breaking the silence about what actually happened when he was fighting death earlier this spring. It was on March 31 that one of Swedish TV sports with acclaimed experts suddenly got a very bad stomach ache when he came home after a training session.
– I vomited, but it was as if no vomit came. The pain in the stomach was enormous, he tells Sportbladet.
– It turned out that five blood vessels had ruptured in the stomach and 1.5 liters of blood had flowed into the abdomen.
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Madam Maria Hellgren found the husband on the floor in the bathroom and drove him to the hospital in Västerås. It was there that the serious discovery was made after an X-ray and Hellgren had to go on by ambulance in emergency mode to the University Hospital in Uppsala where he was operated on later that night.
– They didn’t say anything at the time, but afterwards they told me that if I hadn’t gone in then I wouldn’t have survived. An hour or so later it would have been morning and goodbye, he says to the evening newspaper.
– I asked the doctors if it was due to something in my liver. But it didn’t. They said it had happened anyway. I am grateful that it went the way it did.
READ MORE: When Claes Hellgren got feeling and left the cage – offered the most unexpected show: “So superb!”
“Become more humble”
After a few days, Claes Hellgren was allowed to leave the hospital and return to his home in Västerås. Today he is feeling well again and will return to work as a TV expert in Viaplay to comment on both the Bundesliga and the Champions League in handball.
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The 68-year-old is grateful for the Swedish healthcare system and that he was allowed to keep his life, but also acknowledges the thoughts that ran through his head during the drama.
– I am 68 years old and it may sound pathetic, but I have experienced so much in my life. I have been able to play handball, the sport I love, all my life and worked in seven countries – just because I was good at standing in the way (former handball goalkeeper) haha. I understand that there is an end, but also that there is hope to get better. I become more humble about life, says Hellgren in the interview.
Now we are helped to send our great support to Claes Hellgren!
READ MORE: When 166 cm Ljubomir Vranjes offered the brashness of all time against the 197 cm tall goalkeeper icon: “It’s not wise!”