EDWYN Collins’ wife blames herself for the stroke that almost killed him.
The legendary Scots singer-songwriter suffered two brain haemorrhages and contracted MRSA while in hospital four years ago.
Another chapter in his amazing recovery will be written on Friday night, when the ‘A Girl Like You’ singer makes his first ever T in the Park appearance in the King Tut’s Wah Wah Tent.
But the 49 year-old’s partner Grace Maxwell, who has held his hand every step of the way, says she was to blame for ignoring his addiction to painkillers.
The 51 year-old said in a weekend interview: “I put the blame for this entirely on myself.
“Edwyn was in such pain that he was self medicating and I missed that.
“I wasn’t paying enough attention.
“I should have dragged him to the doctor. Why didn’t I think about blood pressure and all those issues?
“I look at him sometimes and thin, if only I’d paid attention then we wouldn’t be here.”
Collins’ touring and drinking days with 1980s rockers Orange Juice took their toll on his body.
And his teenage son Will was paranoid that his rockstar dad would drunkenly burn down their Glasgow house by mistake.
Any time Collins returned home from a night out, his then 15 year-old son forced himself out of bed to check every room of their house to check nothing was on fire.
Collins admitted: “I liked brandy and beer. I liked alcohol a lot.”
Now 19, Will has vowed to never touch a drop of booze.
Maxwell added: “It’s one of the few good things to have come out of all this; Will is incredibly happy he never has to see his dad drunk again.
“I didn’t like going out with Edwyn socially because he got drunk and a bit nasty so quickly and easily, and always bringing loads of people home at the end of the night.
“It just wasn’t a pleasant experience to be around Edwyn.
“Eventually I said to him, ‘You’re not nice to be around and I’m not bothered one way or another.
“It’s just so strange now to think I could have said anything like that to him.
