First Dates barman Merlin Griffiths has paid tribute to the NHS after getting a tumour on his bowel removed.
The professional bartender, who features on Channel 4’s romance reality show, was diagnosed with stage three bowel cancer last September. Initially, he explained that he’d been experiencing stomach pain since June.
Since then, he has been updating fans via social media on developments in his medical condition.
On Friday (15 April), he shared a photo from his hospital bed after waking up from an operation to remove a tumour.
“2am. Tubes outta everywhere. Aches and pains. But no tumour!” he wrote on Instagram. He also attached the hashtag #BowelCancerAwarenessMonth, as April coincides with an annual drive to raise the visibility of the illness.
Griffiths also posted the selfie to Twitter, along with an image of a surgical robot.
“Thank you #NHS for literally saving my life,” he captioned the pictures.
Followers and colleagues alike have shared their well-wishes. CiCi Coleman, who also appears on First Dates as a waitress, left four red heart emojis on the Instagram post, while a fan wrote: “This is amazing news!! Onwards and upwards now!!”
Griffiths first shared that he was preparing to have surgery in March. Hours before the procedure, he shared that he was “ready as I’ll ever be” with another picture taken in a hospital bed.
