Pop Idol star Darius Danesh almost died twice before his tragic death at aged 41. Many celebrities have been sharing tributes for the star including music mogul Simon Cowell and his ex-wife, actress Natasha Henstridge.
The singer and actor was found dead in Rochester, Minnesota, on August 11, in his apartment. He first found fame when he came third on Pop Idol behind Gareth Gates and eventual winner Will Young.
Before his death Darius hit the headlines twice for two near experiences, as BirminghamLives reports. In 2010 he revealed he was just "three millimetres from death" after being in a car crash. He had been a passenger in a Porsche when it hit a wall at 70mph after skidding on oil during a sunshine break in Spain.
READ MORE: Darius Danesh was planning UK return for Pop Idol reunion special
Darius broke his neck and his "trauma compression injury" was similar to the injury that Superman actor Christopher Reeve suffered - which left him paralysed. At the time he said: "I'm so happy to be alive. I've definitely used up one of my nine lives."
Five years later in 2015, Darius told fans he had been put into a coma after contracting meningitis when he drank water from the Thames. The terrifying ordeal happened when he filmed a promo clip for his charity Fresh2O Water filter.
The charity is said to remove 99.9 percent of all known "water-borne pathogens, bacteria and viruses" - and drank water from a Thames sewage outlet. However, his bottle didn't have a filter attached and he caught a virus.
This left Darius' immune system weakened and he contracted meningitis and cerebral oedema - swelling of his brain. He later explained: "So I drank the water for the video and raised the funds but when I went to Glasgow to see my mum for her birthday I collapsed."
"It turned out I had a cerebral oedema where your brain swells bigger than your skull. My dad saved my life. He got me to hospital, they diagnosed it quickly. I had bacterial meningitis."
He continued: "I had picked up an inflammatory virus from the Thames that had stayed in my system. It knocked my white blood cell count out for months and had left my immunity low so that I could have picked up anything going around. I had been flying a lot and picked up bacterial meningitis which at that time was on the rise."
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