A singer who twice cheated death is heading for America in the hope of a big break.

Ashley Bruce has vowed to carve out a career in the music business after surgeons at the Hurstwood Park Neurological Unit at Haywards Heath saved his life.

Ashley suffered bleeding in the head and then fell seriously ill again three months later with a blood clot. Now Ashley, 28, of Shotters, Burgess Hill, wants to fulfill his ambition to become a top singer.

His management firm, Stone Multi-Media, is in Los Angeles talking to executives from Warner Brothers and Sony. Ashley, whose memory has only recently started to come back, flew out on Friday to join them. He collapsed at home in Burgess Hill in December 1998 and was rushed to Hurstwood Park with his life hanging by a thread.

Doctors carried out emergency brain surgery and later said that if there had been any delay in him reaching hospital he would probably have died. In March a blood clot was discovered after he had suffered fits and he was rushed back to Hurstwood Park, where he needed another emergency operation.

Ashley, who writes his own songs, has already made two albums while working as a salesman. He now hopes to launch his singing career with the help of contacts in the music trade.

He said: "It was touch and go whether I survived and this made me think afterwards that I should try to get my musical career going. We found the record companies in this country steering away from me because of my medical history.

"But the USA has gone the other way. As well as the music, they seem to like the story behind it. I am terribly excited about it. It has been a bit of a tough year in terms of trying to get my health back. Now this is a really big chance for me.

"In Los Angeles we will be talking to executives of management companies and record companies. It looks as if there is a great chance we are going to get a deal in the United States, which would be massive for me. They asked my manager, Dave Freeman, to go over there last Tuesday and now I am going to join him."

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