Model’s tumour op heartache

Posted by mija on Jun 8, 2006 in News | 0 comments

Model Nicole Friello had emergency surgery after suffering a cancer scare while working abroad. The former Miss Scotland finalist thought she was going to die after she collapsed in agony while on a photoshoot in Rome.
Nicole, 21, was taken to hospital, where a tumour the size of a tangerine and 4ft of intestine were removed during an eight-hour operation. A friend said: “The operation she had in Italy was a big one and Nicole is still in a bad way. “She was so ill she is lucky to be alive.” Surgeons at Rome’s San Camillo hospital worked fast because they were afraid she might die if the tumour burst. Her boyfriend, former Celtic star Didier Agathe, has been on the phone daily from his family home on the French island of Reunion, where he has been in a charity football match. Her friend added: “Didier has been a great support but inside he must be frantic. He has been praying for Nicole along with the rest of her family and friends.”
The tumour was confirmed as benign and Nicole flew to Scotland in a wheelchair five days after surgery. But her recovery suffered a setback when she was diagnosed with pneumonia and suffered a flare-up of the digestive tract condition Crohn’s Disease, which she has had for many years.
She was being treated at St John’s hospital in her home town of Livingston, West Lothian, yesterday.