I collapsed on a beach and was just minutes away from death before being saved, reveals EastEnders legend Jake Wood
JAKE Wood has revealed he once collapsed on a beach and was just minutes away from death when he was a child.
EastEnders legend Jake, 51, recounted the terrifying experience while speaking on the Pound for Pound Boxing Podcast.
The actor, who formerly played Max Branning on the BBC soap, claimed the near-death-experience happened in Greece during a family holiday when he was eight.
Jake said he was left on a beach by his parents all day and suffered from heatstroke before being saved by a doctor.
He told boxer Spencer Oliver, “I nearly died when I was eight because I was out in Greece. Mum and Dad just left me on the beach all day and obviously, you know, it’s probably not the best thing and yeah, I nearly died, man. Nearly died.
“It’s bad. It’s bad. We struggled to find a doctor and all that. We basically went to an island for the day, like a desert island. But there were no phones on it, you didn’t have any mobile phones or anything like that. There was nothing on the island, we were there all day.
“About 12 o’clock, one o’clock, I collapsed and I still remember it and I was all floppy and all that. I was in a really bad way. But the boat wasn’t coming till like at 8 o’clock or something.
“So, yeah, I was in and out of this delirium all day and they banged me in the shade and I’m, like, totally out of it. I still remember it and the boat came eventually but they didn’t know where the doctor was.
“I remember they were driving around in a bus trying to find a doctor and all that, they eventually found a doctor. They gave me an injection and that sort of seemed to sort me out.
“But the doctor said that if they had given me the injection after another half an hour, I would have died.
“I still remember it, man but that was the that was the times before sun cream and all that.”
Jake had been a long-running face in Albert Square after debuting in the show in 2006 but departed at the beginning of last year.
Max’s last major storyline saw him get involved with Linda Carter which resulted in a violent face-off with her husband Mick.
Max fathered a child with Linda who he is still yet to meet.
Speaking last year about a return, Jake, who is now also an artist, said: “I’ve got no plans to at the moment, but you never say never.
“They’ve kept the door open for me – apparently I’ve got a little baby I’ve not seen yet. You never know.”