A well-known former TNT Sports presenter has shared his experience of being afflicted by a mysterious illness that caused him such intense pain that he heartbreakingly told his wife, “I want to die.”

Darrell Currie was a familiar face on the network’s Scottish Premiership broadcasts and also hosted Premier League and Champions League events. 

However, for over three years, he has been unable to host a live show after his health declined while covering TNT Sports’ broadcast of Celtic against Real Madrid in 2022. 

Currie has now recounted his struggle with the illness and the moment he clutched his chair in the studio alongside Chris Sutton and Michael Owen.

‘It felt like a bomb went off in my head. It honestly was like an explosion inside my brain,’ he told Scotland Tonight.

‘I remember, in the middle of a chat, sort of holding onto my chair. It felt like there had been an earthquake in the studio.’ 

The presenter returned to his role a couple of weeks later to cover the Scotland vs Republic of Ireland match but recalls feeling even worse during that event. 

‘I knew it was too much,’ he added. 

‘I just thought, “I’m going to fall over, I’m going to black out. This is really bad.”

‘A producer said to me, “I think you should go home.”

‘I left the stadium and thought to myself, “It’s going to be a long time before I’m back.”‘

Currie’s health worsened so severely to the point where he candidly told his wife he no longer wanted to battle through the pain. 

‘There were so many weird symptoms, including the dizziness and everything else, but it was like my body was completely broken,’ he continued.

“There was almost no function. I was in bed for several days. At that time, I probably thought, ‘I could die here,’ because they were trying everything,” he said.

‘Doctors were sending medication, pain killers, the strongest stuff you can imagine. And nothing was helping at all, I thought, “This might be it.”

‘You still think, “why me?” There would be many times I was lying in bed and saying to my wife, “I just want to die because it can’t be worth living on like this, I don’t want to be the burden.” Is it worth being alive if things were gonna get worse?’

The presenter underwent a number of tests, including ones for Lyme disease, multiple sclerosis and arachnoiditis, but doctors for a long time failed to give him a proper diagnosis. 

He’s now undergoing treatment in London, having had 20 MRIs before eventually being diagnosed with Lyme disease. 

He added: ‘There was nothing that was really completing the story to say, “this is what’s wrong with you”, and it was a medical merry-go-round. 

‘I could tell they had no idea what was wrong with me and they were just giving me medication. I would go back and eventually I would take them because… you trust, don’t you? 

‘I got diagnosed with Lyme disease – chronic Lyme disease, I was told. I dived into this treatment. I did six months of antibiotics and they were saying I had to go and do intravenous antibiotics off the back of that and the quotes were eyewatering.

‘Tens of thousands of pounds… I couldn’t keep on spending money. I was running out of money and you have to prioritise.’ 

While acknowledging that he misses his former colleagues on the television, Currie is now focused on maintaining good health for the sake of his family. 

‘I do miss the people and the broadcasting at times,’ he admitted. 

‘I think at the start, when you get ill, you chase getting back to where you were, and I think this feeling of, ‘I need to get back to where I was’ is in your head a lot at the start when you’re unwell. 

‘It’s not healthy, so after about a year, I sort of lost the feeling of desperation to get back. It was more, “I need to live. I need to be alive for the sake of my family.”‘