Jimmy Carr reveals he was "close to death" while battling life-threatening infection
Jimmy Carr has revealed details of the life-threatening infection he was diagnosed with as a child.
The comedian appeared on the podcast Where There's A Will, There's A Wake, and he told host Kathy Burke about his battle with meningitis.
"I had meningitis when I was a child. So my first memory is a lumbar puncture in Limerick in the General [hospital].
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"I was three, I think, and I was always told it was very close to death," he said.
Despite his serious illness, Carr was able to amuse his mother with an unintentionally funny line.
"'You've got to be cruel to be kind'. I think that is the first thing I ever said that my mother thought was funny," he recalled.
"The doctor sort of went: 'It's going to be very painful.' And somehow I'd heard the phrase, and I went: 'You've got to be cruel to be kind,' in a little child's voice."
Carr went on to explain why life is so important to him, adding: "I kind of appreciated that thing of life, because I was always told, 'Oh, you nearly didn't make it.'"
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Following the podcast's format, Carr later shared how he would like to die, referring to it as a "good death".
Talking about how he'd want his kids and loved ones to inform people of his death, he admitted he wanted it to be humorous.
"Funny story. He flew to South Africa, and he went on one of those great shark cage experiences, and he forego-ed the cage. He said, 'No cage for me, thanks. I'll just jump in there with a fish.'"
"And I was ravaged by sharks. That would be a way to go," he concluded.
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