Big Brother presenter Emma Willis was rushed into hospital with a severely infected appendix
Emma Willis has praised the NHS and the staff at her local hospital after having to go to A&E with an incredibly painful stomach ache.
What she thought might only be trapped wind turned out to be a severely infected appendix - which can be life-threatening if left untreated.
Taking to Facebook, the Big Brother and CBB host praised not only the NHS, but the surgeon who saved her life.
The mum-of-three wrote on her Facebook page that around a week ago, she'd been preparing to take her husband, Matt Willis, a member of pop group Busted, on a surprise birthday holiday to Ibiza.
Instead, she took herself to her local hospital, Barnet General in London, at 6am with stomach ache that was becoming worse and worse.
She wrote: "I thought I may be wasting everyone's time with a bad case of trapped wind, but nine hours later, I was wheeled into theatre and what they found was a horribly infected appendix."
Although an infected appendix can be fairly easily diagnosed, it needs to be treated as early as possible to stop the infection spreading through the body, as this can be fatal in some places.
READ MORE: Emma Willis shares rare picture of daughter Trixie to celebrate her first birthday
Posting the message alongside a picture of a man, she wrote: "The man in this picture was my surgeon, Marco Venza. He and his team were incredible. Thank you so so much for taking care of me and for putting me at ease every time I panicked!"
The 41-year-old then listed the names of the hospital staff she had come into contact with, thanking them all by name and adding: "And finally, to everyone working their butts off within the NHS fighting to make it work, thank YOU! #longlivetheNHS."
Poor Emma - she's had a bit of a rollercoaster few days then!
We hope she recovers soon.
Have you or a loved one ever had to have an appendix removed? Let us know over on Facebook and Twitter.
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