George Clooney Contemplated Suicide Over Brain Injury  10/23/05

Hollywood heart-throb George Clooney considered suicide to escape the horrific pain he experienced after suffering a brain injury while filming forthcoming movie Syriana.

The 44-year-old star battled excruciating headaches and serious memory loss after an accident which occurred on the set of the Middle Eastern thriller.

Doctors initially struggled to identify the problem, but a neurologist eventually discovered the severity of his injuries and Clooney immediately underwent a series of operations to banish his headaches.

He says, "Before the surgery it was the most unbearable pain I've ever been through, literally where you'd go, 'Well, you'll have to kill yourself at some point, you can't live like this.'

"There was this scene where I was taped to the chair and getting beaten up.

The chair was kicked over and I hit my head.

"I tore my dura, which is the wrap around my spine that holds in the spinal fluid. But it's not my back; it's my brain. I basically bruised my brain.

"It's bouncing around my head because it's not supported by the spinal fluid."

During his recovery, the Ocean's Twelve actor has been encouraging his memory to return by doing repetitive counting exercises, and describes the last 12 months as the "worst year I've ever had".