WHEN father-of-three Alan Brown underwent emergency brain surgery he could not have known it would transform his life forever.

The former director of a double glazing firm suffered a stroke during the 16-hour operation and woke up to find he had developed a remarkable talent for art.

Just six years later Mr Brown has turned his back on his old life and is on the brink of opening his own art gallery in the heart of Great Malvern.

He said: “I was just plodding along like everyone else in life and then the one night I had a headache. It was unbearable. The next thing I can remember is being in hospital in Worcester.”

He was sent to a specialist brain unit in Oxford where doctors discovered Mr Brown, now aged 49 and living in Malvern Wells, had suffered a potentially lethal brain aneurysm due to blood vessels becoming swollen inside his head.

They operated immediately to fit a small titanium clip inside his skull to stem the swelling, but complications arose during the procedure when he suffered a stroke.

“I woke up paralysed along the left side. I couldn’t feed walk or feed myself. It was hopeless.”

His sense of despair was heightened by being told he may never walk again.

In an effort to cheer him up a friendly ward nurse brought him a pencil and paper and challenged him to draw a picture of her pet dog from a photograph.

Mr Brown continued: “It was so surreal. I had not done any kind of drawing at all in over 30 years and it was really good. She said ‘You have got a real natural ability there’.”

Mr Brown soon began attending the Acquired Brain Injury unit in Barbourne, Worcester, and found himself talked into pursuing his new-found talents by taking an A-level art course.

He continued to nurture his artistic ability and has recently completed a three-year fine arts degree at the University of Worcester where his work was exhibited to the public for the first time.

His gallery, the Original Art Work Store, in Graham Road, has been funded from his life-savings and will open within the next few weeks.

He added: “I was an average kid at school and didn’t show any particular talent for art. Who knows where I would be now if it hadn’t been for this.”