Billy Connolly insists he's 'lucky' and 'not dead or broken' in frank health admission

Much-loved former comic Sir Billy Connolly has insisted he is 'not dead or broken' - and is happily enjoying his retirement in the US.

The Big Yin said he feels lucky to have lived to the age of 81 given the extraordinary life he has led and is now content drawing and fishing next to his home in the Florida Keys.

In his new book, titled The Accidental Artist, Connolly reflects on how he is fortunate to still be here given his traumatic childhood, alcohol addiction and his dangerous first job as a welder. He is suffering from Parkinson's disease, but says he could have contracted a worse illness from working in the hazardous Glasgow shipyards as a young man.

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He also details falling 40ft from a ship into the River Clyde - only breaking his ankle, reports The Mirror.

In the book, Connolly writes: "I got diagnosed with Parkinson's disease and prostate cancer the same week. I got treated for the cancer and now I seem to be OK. The Parkinson's just rumbles along, doing its thing. It bothered me for a while but when I think about it I suppose I'm lucky I didn't get something worse because I was a welder.

"The diseases they talk about now due to welding weren't known about when I was in the shipyards. They didn't know about the hazards of asbestos. And men were always dying in accidents too. I was in an accident myself. I fell off the ship into the Clyde, dropped 40 feet into three feet of water and broke my ankle."

He adds: "I'm a lucky bugger. I survived a lot of s**t - much of it brought on by myself. I probably shouldn't have escaped but I did. Maybe what doesn't kill you f**ks you up for life but at least I'm still here. I'm fishing