Billy Connolly almost died after doctors failed to spot a life-threatening blood clot in his leg.
The 71-year-old comedian was rushed to hospital in a taxi after he developed a deadly clot in his thigh following surgery on his prostate last year.
His wife Pamela Stephenson, 64, told the Daily Mail newspaper: "I knew it was a clot but the doctors weren't listening to me.
"Eventually I spoke to an intern on the phone, who said, 'Just get him to the hospital right away!' "
The psychologist said her husband was "in agony and crying with pain" as they travelled to the hospital, but he still managed to crack a joke or two on the way.
She explained: "The road was in a very bad condition, so the taxi was bumping over it, and Billy was saying 'Uh-oh, he drives just like you Pamsy!'
"I said, 'Billy, I'm saving your life here, stop going on about my driving.' Even though he was going through so much pain, he never stopped being his hilarious, curmudgeonly, adorable self."
Medical stuff managed to treat the blood clot in time and Billy was discharged from hospital, but the problem emerged again when he was filming a documentary about dealing with death, which aired on ITV in May.
However, his daughter Amy, a researcher on the show, noticed the issue and took him to hospital for treatment.
Billy was diagnosed with prostate cancer and Parkinson's disease - a neurological disorder which affects the central nervous system and brain - on the same day last year, but he has since been given the all-clear from cancer and is trying to keep his brain active with crosswords to help control his Parkinson's.

Khloé Kardashian celebrated her 30th birthday on a private yacht yesterday (27.06.14).
The 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians' star and her family gathered at Chelsea Piers in New York last night to mark her milestone with a luxury ride on the Hudson river to view the city's stunning skyline under the stars.
The brunette beauty was joined by her boyfriend French Montana, her sisters Kim and Kourtney, her mother Kris Jenner, and her step-sisters Kendall and Kylie as the family were treated to a candle-lit meal onboard.
Khloé looked stunning dressed in a floor-length white gown and gold slingback heels, before covering up her frock with a huge sweatshirt as the night drew to a close.
The reality TV star was seen sipping on champagne as she cuddled up to French, 29, before leaning in for a smooch under the moon-lit sky.
The couple may have only been together a few months, but the rapper was keen to shower Khloé with a number of thoughtful, yet expensive, birthday gifts.
French - whose real name is Karim Kharbouch - spent more than $100,000 on his new girlfriend, including a $10,000 diamond gold grill, a $49,000 white Jeep and a $25,000 diamond ring, which he gave to her at her first birthday bash at the upmarket Don Coqui restaurant in the Bronx, New York City on Friday (26.06.14).

Keira Knightley thinks it's a "miracle" she's still married after her husband tried to teach her to play guitar.
The 'Begin Again' star - who plays aspiring singer Greta in the upcoming comedy-drama - admits she almost fell out with her beau James Righton because he got frustrated with her lack of "ability" to play the instrument.
Speaking on the 'Today' show yesterday (27.06.14), Keira - who plays guitar in the movie - said: "He is a musician and he did try [to teach me guitar]. It didn't go so well, it's a miracle we're still married. I didn't have the natural ability for the guitar. It was a little bit stressful but we're still together, so it was fine, and I didn't kill him and he didn't kill me, so it was fine."
Meanwhile, the 29-year-old actress admits she's regularly mistaken for her fellow celebrities Britney Spears, Kate Winslet, Rachel Weisz, and Natalie Portman, but tries to see it as an advantage.
She explained: "Three times [I've been mistaken for] Britney, mostly Natalie Portman, and I've also had Kate Winslet, I've also had Rachel Weisz. I always sign for other people. [I sign] their names.
"I've been Natalie a million times. I've been chased through airports as Natalie Portman."

Sophie Ellis-Bextor talked about taking babies to festivals backstage with Lily Allen at Glastonbury.
The 'Love is a Camera' singer - who performed on Friday (27.06.14) at the world famous music event at Worthy Farm in Somerset, South West England - claims her experience this time around has been very different now she's a mum to children Sonny, 10, and Kit, five, who she has with husband Richard Jones, and she was bonding over parenthood with 'Hard Out Here' singer Lily after her set.
She told Bang Showbiz: "I saw Lily Allen backstage but I missed her set, I heard she had huge milk bottles on stage, we just talked about bringing babies to festivals.
"My eldest has been to Glastonbury when The Feeling played the Pyramid Stage and he was only four. I would bring them here.
"We took the kids camping about three weeks ago to the New Forest but we wouldn't do the whole camping thing at a festival."
Sophie got caught in the thunderstorms yesterday (27.06.14), but claims she was "quite prepared" for bad weather.
She said: "I actually thought yesterday was going to be more of a washout than it was. I've got a tour bus and I've done Glastonbury twice now. It's totally different this time because the first time I was 19 and in a band. This time I'm a solo artist with five solo albums to my name."
The 35-year-old pop star performed tracks from her current album 'Wanderlust' and then some of her disco hits from her early career during her set on the Avalon Stage.
She said: "The set was quite bonkers. We did the new album and then I had a costume change and then we did disco.
"The response to the album has been overwhelming. I have a silver disk and it's done so much better than I ever thought it would. I'm very lucky."
Sophie is a fan of Glastonbury and made sure she caught headliners Arcade Fire, who performed after a huge thunderstorm knocked the power out in a number of areas.
She said: "I also saw Skrillex and M.I.A and they were great.
"It's the festival everyone talks about and I think all the artists that play bring their best game."
Rita Ora also refused to let the thunder and lightening ruin her fun and held a private rave in her VIP Winnebagos.
She turned the music up, got everyone dancing and, at one point, was seen using a blu e-Cig as a glow stick.

Shia LaBeouf has reportedly been banned from a restaurant after he was caught allegedly peeing on the wall outside last month.
The troubled actor - who has sparked fears over his mental health in recent months - could face a life-time ban from The Local Peasant in Sherman Oaks, California, after the manager witnessed him urinating in the car park during his four-hour visit to the eatery.
A source told TMZ.com: "The manager followed Shia to the parking lot, where he saw the actor peeing on the wall ... Shia profusely apologised in an odd rant.
"He [Shia then] went back inside and tried ordering food, but the manager had enough and told Shia to get out. The two [of them] had words, Shia paid his tab and stormed out vowing never to return."
The alleged incident comes just weeks before the 28-year-old star was arrested at a Broadway theatre yesterday (27.06.14) for yelling offensive language and slapping people's bottoms during a performance of 'Cabaret' at Studio 54 in New York City.
Shia was charged with harassment, disorderly conduct and criminal trespassing yesterday morning, and is set to appear in court on July 24.
Meanwhile, earlier this year, the 'Transformers' star stormed out of a 'Nymphomaniac' press conference in Berlin, before arriving on the red carpet for the film's German premiere wearing a paper bag on his head that read, "I am not famous any more."
He was also forced to apologise for alleged plagiarism and starred in his own silent art installation in Los Angeles.

Sharon Osbourne regrets getting weight loss surgery.
The 61-year-old television host underwent a gastric bypass procedure in 1999 after spending years battling with her weight, but she admits she felt like a "cheat" because she wasn't losing the pounds healthily.
Speaking to 'Entertainment Tonight', she said: "I felt like such a cheat when I had that band on my stomach. It makes you vomit the whole time. Nothing goes down because it goes out."
The former 'X Factor' UK judge - who is married to Ozzy Osbourne and has children Aimee, Kelly and Jack - now controls her weight by sticking to the low-carbohydrate Atkins diet, but she admits she still has "cheat" days.
She explained: "I'd be fibbing if I said I don't cheat because I do cheat. I cheat a lot on my diet. We all do, but I don't guilt myself out because the next day I'll start with my Atkins breakfast sandwich and I'm right back on it."
Meanwhile, Kelly, 29, recently admitted that Sharon, who underwent surgery for colon cancer in 2002 and had a double mastectomy in 2012, is her biggest inspiration.
She said previously: "She taught me to be a fighter, that a smile can be the best medicine, to live every day as if it's your last, that family is all that really matters, and that love is the only true thing that lasts forever."

Kim Kardashian's baby daughter became the victim of a racial attack while onboard a plane last month.
The reality TV star's 12-month-old daughter North, whom she has with husband Kanye West, was allegedly screamed at by a woman while travelling in first class.
Speaking to her sister Khloé in a preview of Sunday's (29.06.14) episode of 'Keeping Up with the Kardashians', Kim recalled the horrifying incident: "I fell asleep, I woke up to this woman screaming, 'Kanye West's baby!' The woman is screaming at my child, I jump up," before Khloé adds, "I would've punched her in her face."
Kim, 33, replies: "No, we were on a plane -- I wanted to."
The brunette beauty's mother Kris Jenner then tells Khloé, 30, more details about the verbal attack later on in the episode.
She revealed: "This lady stood up in the cabin in first class and yelled at the top of her lungs, 'She's with a black guy, and that baby is black! And you need to shut that black baby up!' "
Meanwhile, Kim, who is of Armenian descent, took to her blog last month to express her thoughts on racism after "personally" experiencing acts of discrimination.
She wrote in the heartfelt post: "To be honest, before I had North, I never really gave racism or discrimination a lot of thought. It is obviously a topic that Kanye is passionate about, but I guess it was easier for me to believe that it was someone else's battle.
"But recently, I've read and personally experienced some incidents that have sickened me and made me take notice. I realise that racism and discrimination are still alive, and just as hateful and deadly as they ever have been."

Ice-T's grandson has been arrested after his roommate was shot dead in Georgia earlier this week.
Elijah Marrow, 19, has been charged with involuntary manslaughter, possession of a firearm and reckless conduct after the handgun he was allegedly playing with in his apartment accidentally went off and killed Daryus Johnson, also 19, on Tuesday afternoon (24.06.14).
Johnson was unconscious by the time police arrived at the apartment, and he later died from his injuries.
Police officer David Baldwin told the Marietta Daily Journal: "Marrow was not using proper firearms safety when handling the gun. That reckless handling of the firearm is what led to Johnson being accidentally shot and eventually killed."
Marrow is currently being held in Cobb County jail in Georgia and also faces charges of marijuana possession and having a stolen firearm, according to TMZ.com.
Meanwhile, the youngster has appeared a number of times on the reality TV show 'Ice Loves Coco, which follows the 54-year-old rapper and his wife Coco Austin.
Ice-T - whose real name is Tracy Marrow - is yet to comment on his grandson's arrest.

Arcade Fire say headlining Glastonbury was one of "the most incredible" moments of their career.
The indie rockers - who performed on the Pyramid Stage at the iconic Worthy Farm festival on Friday night(27.06.14) - kicked off the set with their 2013 single 'Reflektor', which was accompanied by a firework display, and labelled the experience "unbelievable".
Lead singer Win Butler told the crowd: "We're so happy to be here at Glastonbury."
During the opening track, the 34-year-old took a camera from a lucky reveller and snapped a number of photographs before handing it back, while the crowd let off red and blue flares, prompting Win to say,' Thank you for the flares, I hope you don't get arrested".
The Grammy Award-winning band - made up of Win, his wife Régine Chassagne, his brother Will Butler, Richard Reed Parry, Tim Kingsbury and Jeremy Gara - were scheduled to be joined on stage by Australian singer Lorde, until the 17-year-old pulled out of the show to spend time with her family.
Lorde - who wasn't booked to play in a solo slot across the weekend - tweeted her disappointed at missing the performance.
She wrote: "Pulling out of Glastonbury in the name of family time was a tough decision but oh boy I am not jealous of that mud."
Meanwhile, performances on the Pyramid Stage were brought to halt yesterday evening after thunderstorms forced organisers to cut short Rudimental's set.
Instead of broadcasting footage of the performance, the screens at the side of stage showed a warning message before a festival representative came out to inform the crowd the stage was being closed.
The closure led to a delay in the festival's performance schedule causing Lilly Allen's set to be cut down.

Slash writes up to 80 songs when he's on the road.
The 48-year-old musician spends "every free moment" coming up with musical ideas to share with collaborator Myles Kennedy, which they later work into tracks.
He said: "We do a lot of touring and during the time we spent on the road, every free moment I spend just playing my guitar and when I come up with a riff or a musical idea, I record it on my phone, over the course of the tour I accumulate around 50-80 of these things.
"Also sometimes I have an idea and I'll turn it on to Miles and see if he digs it.
"When he's not working with me, he's got another band so I'll send him stuff and he'll start putting a melody together and I'll work with the rhythm section and then we'll all come together."
However, Myles admits Slash's way of working can be disruptive if they're not in the same place.
He said in an interview on UK radio: "He sends them at all hours and sometimes I would get them and be like, 'I want to get some sleep' but I want to hear it, then ideas come and I want to work on it, it's inspiring."
Slash quipped in response: "That's only because you change a lot of timezones, I always send them at a reasonable hour."

Ed Sheeran joined Rudimental on stage at this year's Glastonbury festival.
The 23-year-old singer surprised fans by appearing on the Pyramid Stage last night (27.06.14) during the dance act's set to perform 'Bloodstream' - a track they wrote together for Ed's latest album 'x'.
Ed was introduced by the group's DJ Locksmith as their "brother from another mother", who entertained the audience by jumping onto a security guards back during the performance.
The 'A Team' singer sang and played his acoustic guitar and kept chat to a minimum shouting "make some noise for Rudimental" at the end of the track.
Unfortunately for punters, Rudimental's set was cut short not long after Ed's appearance due to an approaching thunderstorm.
Instead of broadcasting footage of the performance, the screens at the side of stage showed a warning message, "Due to weather conditions we may need to power down briefly", before a festival representative came out to inform the crowd the stage was being closed.
Despite the set being cut-short, the band - made up of Amir Amor, Kesi Dryden, Piers Agget and DJ Locksmith - were clearly enjoying their time at the iconic Worthy Farm festival - at which revellers have been enjoying EE's bespoke 4G network via the 'Highspeed Herd' signal providing cows.
DJ Locksmith said: "Tell you what, there's something special about this place. Am I right or am I right."
Meanwhile, Ed's weekend isn't over yet - he'll also be playing a set on the Pyramid Stage on Sunday evening (29.06.14).

Lily Allen has blasted FIFA president Sepp Blatter at Glastonbury.
The 'Sheezus' singer dedicated her track 'F**k You' to the football administrator during her performance at this year's festival labelling him "corrupt" and a "c**t".
The 29-year-old said during her set on the Pyramid Stage last night(27.06.14): "The next song is dedicated to possibly one of, actually not, the most corrupt, annoyingly corrupt, person there is in the world, Sepp f***ng Blatter, you c***."
Following her controversial outburst, Lily, 29, encouraged revellers to "raise a glass" while she flashed her underwear and twerked on stage, singing a number of her classic hits including 'Smile' and 'The Fear' as well as a cover of Keane's hit 'Somewhere Only We Know'.
The Brit Award-winner - who performed shortly after a thunderstorm which led to a safety shutdown on the stage - remained enthusiastic about the set at the iconic Worthy Farm festival after a 45 minute delay.
She said: "Thank f**k for that, the rain stopped! Just in time. I've got to be quick cos our set time has been cut short."
The mum of three was also spotted drinking a pint before asking, "Can I have some whiskey in there please?".