FIRST Dates star Merlin Griffiths has thanked the NHS for saving his life as he gave fans a health update from his hospital bed.
The TV favourite, 47, was diagnosed with bowel cancer in August 2021.
Doctors told Merlin he has a 75 per cent chance of living beyond five years, as he faces a year of treatment.
After completing surgery on Thursday, the ba man took to Twitter to let his 44k followers know how he was doing.
Alongside a picture of him in bed, Merlin said: “Thank you #NHS for literally saving my life. #BowelCancerAwarenessMonth.”
Earlier this week Merlin revealed that he was in hospital to have surgery.
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He told fans on Instagram: “Ready as I’ll ever be. Tumour removal time. 
.”
The following day he shared a snap from his bed.
“2am. Tubes outta everywhere. Aches and pains. But no tumour,” Merlin told his 57.8k followers.
Many fans rushed to the comments section to share their love and support.
One wrote: “Well done and speedy recovery, im 21 days post op, each day you’ll get stronger and stronger! 
.”
Another said: “So strong buddy! If you can stay calm through the night there’s a brighter day.”
A third simply wrote: “You are so brave
.”
Back in September last year Merlin Griffiths revealed the details of his devastating cancer battle.
Three months prior Merlin started to get pain in his stomach, which he thought was because of a car accident that happened when he was 20.
Doctors went on to discover a 4.5cm Stage 3 tumour.
At the time he told the Sunday Mirror: “I won’t let it get the better of me.”
“The tumour has breached the colon. It’s wanting to move into the tissues surrounding it.
“But importantly, it hasn’t got into the lymph yet, meaning it’s not spread.”
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Merlin shot to fame in 2013 when he joined the cast of Channel 4’s First Dates.
He lives with his partner Lucile and his seven-year-old daughter Alix.
