Caprice underwent a seven-hour operation to have her brain tumour removed last month.
The 45-year-old model was diagnosed with a benign growth in February after she suffered blurred vision and headaches while competing on the winter sports show ‘The Jump’ and has nothing but praise for the programme because it essentially saved her life.
Speaking on ‘Loose Women’ on Friday (21.04.17), she said: "I had a seven-and-a-half hour operation. I went into theatre and it was like a party. There were 11 people in there. I thought this was the right thing for my family and I didn’t have the support system because I didn’t tell anyone … I just remember being in my bed and praying to my dad in heaven. I just wanted to wake up and be OK. It was the first time that it really hit me."
The blonde bombshell was forced to come to terms with the news on her own as she was in Austria for the show without her husband Ty but admitted she couldn’t stop thinking about her three-year-old sons Jax and Jett and whether she was going to die.
She explained: "I went to the hospital and the nurse came in and said: ‘Oh you’re fine.’ And I said: ‘OK, let’s go. We have a live show.’ And she said: ‘No you have to see the neurosurgeon.’ And I said: ‘What are you talking about? I need to go.’ Anyway, the nurse came in and she sat down and she said: ‘Don’t be alarmed but you have a brain tumour.’ Obviously I started to break down and cry hysterically. I just said: ‘Am I going to die?’ That’s the first thing you think about, I’m 45 now but I had waited for the right partner at 39 and I waited for my kids. It’s terrifying and I’m relatively healthy and I’ve never done drugs and I couldn’t believe what they were telling me. For me, I just wanted to be strong for my kids because they’re so young. They’re three. I wanted to be strong for my partner."
Caprice then decided to return to the UK in order to have her operation to remove the tumour and can’t thank bosses of the Channel 4 show enough for being so understanding.
She said: "Channel 4 were amazing. They said: ‘Forget about the show, you’re going home.’ So I went home and I told Ty my partner. I didn’t want to tell my mum straight away because she’s not in the greatest of health. We found the best neurosurgeon and we went to see him because I didn’t know if it was benign or if it was cancerous.
"I was in the dark so it was a really scary time for me. I went to see this neurosurgeon and I had every test under the sun. I had my whole body scanned again. And he said it is benign but it is a grower so they needed to get it out."
The surgeons successfully removed the thumb-sized tumour and now Caprice will be monitored regularly to ensure it doesn’t grow back.
Caprice’s 7-hour op
