Former Bond girl MARYAM D'ABO almost died when she suffered a horrifying brain haemorrhage during a workout.

The actress, who appeared alongside Timothy Dalton in 1987 blockbuster The Living Daylights, was exercising at a friend's house in Los Angeles when she suddenly collapsed in agony.

She was found sprawled semi-conscious on the kitchen floor, and doctors later diagnosed a brain aneurysm.

D'Abo's collapse came in 2006 after she suffered months of piercing headaches.

She says, "Although I still felt a little off colour, I decided to exercise anyway... As I started to build up speed, suddenly a wave of heat swept through my head, and I began to feel like everything was in slow motion.

"I went completely deaf, and then what felt like an electric thunderstorm exploded in my head. I fell off the machine screaming with pain. Excruciating, sharp strikes of lightning zapped my brain - it lasted five minutes but felt like an eternity.

"It was the worst headache of my life but somehow I staggered to the main house, screaming for help... As I lay on the kitchen floor, having convulsions, I felt like my brain was going to explode."

Doctors initially feared the star - married to British film director Hugh Hudson - had meningitis. But just days later tests revealed she had suffered a brain haemorrhage and needed emergency surgery to save her life.

D'Abo adds, "When I woke up after the surgery, Hugh appeared in the doorway, having flown straight from the U.K., looking terrified. I had a nine-inch scar on my temple, extensive facial swellings and a hole in my skull. I was lucky to be alive."