Alan Brazil discloses liver transplant and cardiac arrest during surgery after years of heavy drinking

Alan Brazil’s heart stopped on the operating table during a life-saving liver transplant, the talkSPORT presenter has disclosed in his first detailed account of the surgery. The 66-year-old, who has been off the airwaves for three months, returned briefly to his Breakfast Show on Thursday to share the full extent of his ordeal with colleagues Gabby Agbonlahor and Ally McCoist.

Brazil, visibly slimmer since the procedure, revealed that he received the call to say a donor organ had become available only hours before he went under the knife. “On the Wednesday I finished at quarter to 10, I got a shout at 10, you’ve got to phone Addenbrooke’s Hospital, I did at 10, they said ‘they’ve got something for you, get here right now’,” he said. “I jumped in a cab, went down to Cambridge, and at 2.30 that afternoon I was on the slab. Bang, they opened me up and performed [surgery] for something like eight hours. They transplanted my liver. I had a tiny liver by all accounts and they transplanted it. My heart did stop for a bit, it came back on its own.”

The former Manchester United and Scotland forward explained that the surgeon, Dr Gibbs, had warned him of the dangers as he was wheeled into the theatre. “He explained as they were wheeling me into the theatre the dangers and what could happen and that I might not come out of this. But he said, ‘you’re strong, you’ll be alright.’ I swear I thought my days were numbered, honestly,” Brazil said.

Following the eight-hour operation, Brazil spent a week in intensive care before being moved to a ward at Addenbrooke’s Hospital in Cambridge. He described the conditions on the ward as stretched, noting that “there’s one nurse to 13 beds, that’s how bad it is”. He added: “I was having tests, I was in a cupboard, there was nowhere to put me. The aisles were full of beds and machines. They stuck me near a printer and all that and said ‘deal with that for 20 minutes’.”

Brazil remains in recovery five-and-a-half weeks after the surgery. Although he says he feels “really good”, he is still struggling with fluid retention. “The fluid keeps coming back. They’re not worried but saying, ‘look, it’s early days, it’s five-and-a-half weeks since we opened you up. We’ll get to the bottom of it’,” he said. He is taking multiple medications and attending regular appointments at Ipswich Hospital and Addenbrooke’s. “I’ve just got to be a good boy, rest up, and go and see these people. Hopefully I’ll get back to 100 per cent. From where I was before, the last five or six years, I never realised how bad I was. I feel totally different now. I’m incredibly lucky.”

The broadcaster paid tribute to the hospital staff, saying: “I’ll be very frank, I’m very, very lucky. Doctor Gibbs was magnificent. … I’ve got the staff at Addenbrooke to thank.” Addenbrooke’s has a long history of liver transplantation and has pioneered advances such as a liver perfusion machine that helps surgeons assess donor organs, improving survival rates. Brazil spent more than four weeks in total in hospital, including the week in intensive care, before being discharged.

He told listeners that he expects to return to his talkSPORT Breakfast Show in a few weeks, adding: “I’m still here! Gradually every day improving … I’m looking forward to getting back. It’s going to be a few more weeks, hopefully two or three and then I’m getting back. There’s going to be loads of sport on, which is really getting me going.” He also reflected on the support he has received from well‑wishers, including messages from former teammates and contemporaries, while noting the health struggles of other football figures such as Kenny Dalglish, Kevin Keegan and John Barnes. “It’s our age I’m afraid. I cocked it and thank God, luckily, the guys at Addenbrooke’s Hospital saved my life.”

Previous health scares and a life in football

This is not the first time Brazil has faced a serious medical crisis. Five years ago he underwent heart surgery, which he linked at the time to “fast living catching up with me”. He took a break from the radio show then, saying after the operation: “I had a little problem, whether it was Covid related or … I ended up in a couple of hospitals. I had a little sort out in the old ticker but I’m pleased to say I’m on the mend.” More recently, in February 2026, he missed two weeks of his show due to a severe ear infection, remarking that he had never received so many messages asking if he was dead or dying.

Born on June 15, 1959, Brazil began his professional football career at Ipswich Town in 1976, scoring 80 goals in 210 appearances and winning the UEFA Cup in 1981. He later played for Tottenham Hotspur and Manchester United during the 1980s, earning 13 caps for Scotland and representing the nation at the 1982 World Cup in Spain. A recurring back injury forced his retirement at the age of 27. After football, he moved into broadcasting, working for Sky Sports as a co-commentator and pundit before joining the newly launched talkSPORT in 2001. He has presented the Breakfast Show since the station began, cutting back his hours in 2020. His media career has not been without incident: he was dismissed from talkSPORT in 2004 after failing to turn up for work following a day at the Cheltenham Festival, though he later returned.

Brazil also ran a pub, The Black Adder, in Ipswich, which went into bankruptcy, and he has a long-standing passion for horse racing, forming the Alan Brazil Racing Club. He is married to Jill, and the couple have children and grandchildren.

“I realise how lucky I am, how fortunate I am. My life has been brilliant from football to media to broadcast to talkSPORT, I’m very lucky, I’ve had to work hard, get up in the middle of the night, but I’m all for that again,” Brazil said. “When you’re that close to saying goodbye, and it suddenly hits you, you think ‘oh my God,’ you don’t realise, it suddenly hits you. … I’ll take every day as it comes, my kids, my grandkids, the wife, she’s been brilliant. … As I said in one of my books, we’re only here for a visit, and I intend to enjoy it and crack on again.”