source and entire article Herald Sun Fiona Byrne

FORMER Hey Hey It's Saturday funnyman John Blackman has spoken of his Christmas Eve brush with death.
Blackman has told Woman's Day of the massive seizure that struck him down at home and the dash to hospital where tests revealed he had a brain tumour the size of a golf ball.

Blackman was allowed to leave hospital to be with his family for several hours on Christmas Day.

He then underwent a gruelling 5 1/2 hours of neurosurgery on December 27.

The tumour, which tests later showed was benign, was successfully removed and Blackman was home with his wife Cecile and daughter Tiffany within days, albeit sporting a big scar on his head.

Blackman is still on medication and has been ordered by his doctors not to drive, but it is not stopping him getting out and about.

He and Cecile were among the first-nighters at the opening of the stage musical Shout last month and he was an Australia Day ambassador at Hawthorn.

"I looked like Frankenstein's monster," Blackman told Woman's Day of the surgery.

"The specialist told us the tumour must have been growing for the best part of two years, but I was blissfully unaware of it."

He said while the ordeal had been harrowing, he had been overwhelmed by the support he had from friends and associates.

"I guess the brain tumour has given me a new outlook on life in every respect.

"You don't realise how many people care about you until something like this happens."

The John Blackman website here