Paul Young: Singer reveals holiday horror fall which saw him break leg and need three blood transfusions

Paul Young has lifted the lid on his nightmare on the Greek island of Santorini. Within 24 hours of arriving he slipped and fell down the steps as he walked to breakfast, breaking his leg in several places.

Speaking to the Daily Mirror, Paul, 69, said: “It had been spitting with rain. The going under foot, as they say, was quite good as I was walking on the flat, but when I got to the top of the steps, as soon as I put my foot on the first step, my leg slipped out from underneath me. I fell and my leg cracked as soon as I hit the step.

“Once I'd gone down, I couldn't stop. There was no handrail, so nothing to hold on to. I just thought, ‘I've lost control’. I fell down to three or four more steps, fracturing my leg again and again. It was a multi-fracture. When I came to a stop, I looked down and my leg was in a slightly weird position, underneath my bottom. I thought ‘I don’t like that. My leg shouldn't be like that’, so I tried to straighten it up and that’s when the pain started’’.

Paul was taken to Santorini General Hospital in Karterados after the accident, which happened in September. X-rays revealed a series of fractures to his left thigh bone.

But as there were no surgeons at the hospital, he had to lie on a gurney in the hospital corridor for nine hours trying to arrange a flight to Athens where he could get the urgent care he needed - and only had paracetamol for pain relief.

When at the Mediterranea hospital in the Greek capital, Paul had a metal rod inserted into the centre of the femur - but remembers coming round from anaesthetic while still on the operating table.

“I could hear lots of banging and drilling going on but I couldn't get the words to say anything,” he said. “I think when they went into the leg, the procedure was not as easy as they thought it was going to be. They only had so much time and I think there's a point where they can't give you any more anaesthetic, so maybe [as the anaesthetic wore off] they had to rush to finish the job off.”

The singer, best known for Wherever I Lay My Hat and other 80s big hits, spent a fortnight in the Athens hospital including two days in intensive care, with three blood transfusions, before flying home on a low-altitude private jet. He then spent time in the Cleveland Clinic in London before being allowed home.

But then he suffered a setback in November when the rod in his leg snapped - necessitating another 10-hour operation to repair it.

Now, after months of rehab and therapy he is off crutches but still has limited mobility - and is preparing for an upcoming UK tour to mark 40 years in the business.