Gogglebox favourite Shaun Malone has shared a candid update following brain surgery, revealing visible scars and staples on his head as he recovers in hospital.
The 31-year-old reality star, who has appeared on the Channel 4 programme alongside his family since their debut in 2014, posted an image on Instagram showing the aftermath of his latest operation.
Malone, who was first diagnosed with a brain condition in 2010, admitted the timing of his procedure has made recovery particularly challenging.
"Heatwave is a terrible time to be stuck in hospital until Friday," he wrote. "Brain surgery is deffo not the highlight of my year."
The television personality has been consistently open about his ongoing health struggles throughout his time in the public eye.
His health battles began in 2010 when what initially appeared to be sinusitis developed into a life-threatening brain infection.
Speaking on the Coaching From The Sofa podcast, Mr Malone previously recounted the terrifying ordeal that nearly claimed his life as a teenager.
"In 2010 I got sinusitis and in some way, the infection found its way back to my brain," he explained. "My brain started swelling and my skull started crushing it so my mum took me to A&E saying, 'Look he's poorly!' and they said it was sinusitis."
Shaun Malone opened up about having surgery
|The situation deteriorated rapidly when Mr Malone collapsed at home and fell into a coma.
Medical professionals delivered devastating news to his parents, informing them their son had less than a 10 per cent chance of survival.
Mr Malone remained unconscious for several weeks while doctors warned his family about the uncertain extent of his brain damage.
"I was in a coma for a few weeks and they said to my mum and dad, 'Shaun's got brain damage, we don't know what the brain damage is or how it'll affect him or if it's going to be really bad,'" he recalled.
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The Malone family have featured in Gogglebox since 2014
|CHANNEL 4
Upon regaining consciousness, the full impact of his ordeal became apparent.
"And when I woke up my brain damage affected me in some ways, like my memory but mostly the way it affected me was with my left side," Mr Malone said.
"I essentially had a stroke, I couldn't move my left arm, my left leg, even the left side of my face."
His mother Julie has previously spoken about the family's anguish during that harrowing period.
Shaun has been open about his health issues
|"We were absolutely frantic," she told the Mirror. "The doctor said Shaun only had a slim chance of surviving surgery, that there were no beds available.
"Tom said I just went doolally saying, 'He's going to be fine, he's going to be fine'. Thankfully Tom was level-headed and really pushed them."
Once a hospital bed was secured, Mr Malone underwent a gruelling six-hour operation during which surgeons removed a section of his skull to relieve the dangerous swelling.
He spent a fortnight in a coma before finally waking, at which point he faced the arduous task of learning to walk from scratch once more.