Paul Daniels didn’t know he was dying.
The magician passed away at his home in Berkshire at the age of 77 after losing his battle with an incurable brain tumour last night (16.03.16), just a month after it was diagnosed, and his wife Debbie McGee says his condition deteriorated so quickly, the former ‘Every Second Counts’ host didn’t realise what was happening.
She said: "Paul didn’t know at all. The tumour was pressing on the part of the brain that processes information. So although he was talking and communicating and knowing who I was and everything, he actually wasn’t taking in new information, which is actually quite hard to tell.
"On the day he was diagnosed, the tumour had already spread so far that they knew he only had a few weeks to live. Then, in two days he deteriorated from feeling lethargic to having other symptoms, so he actually didn’t really know what was going on."
Debbie had vowed her husband – who had three sons from a previous relationship – would enjoy his final days.
She told the BBC: "I cried the whole night [after being told about the tumour] and then I said to myself, right. What would he do in this situation? Right, let’s go and find out from the doctors what we are going to do and then whatever time he has left, I’m going to make it the best time possible. And that’s what I did. He never saw me cry."
The 57-year-old star – who was Paul’s assistant for several years before they wed in 1988 – said she and her spouse had the sort of marriage "most people dream of".
She added: "We had a life that was full of laughter… we were so happy together."
Paul Daniels didn’t know he was dying
