Ananova:

George Clooney has revealed how he tore his spine during an action shot after putting on 30lbs for a film role.

He was meant to kick over a desk in front of him, but when it overturned he ended up taking a nasty knock on his head and damaging his spine.

Fluid from his spinal column began leaking from his mouth causing panic on the Morocco set of his forthcoming movie, Syriana, and George was rushed to hospital.

One year on, he is still suffering excruciating headaches and short-term memory loss, says the Mirror.

Two operations to repair his ruptured dura - the sac of fluid surrounding the brain and spinal cord - have so far failed to end his pain.

"I still have bad headaches and I'd like them to get less. It's just not going to go away with a bang. I'm looking forward to better health next year," says George, 44.

"It's funny how little everything else matters when your health starts to go. It's a sobering thing."

George says the accident might not have been so bad if he hadn't had to bulk up for the role.

"We shot that scene 20 or 30 times and in one take you actually see the desk go over and my head hit it. I think that was the time it happened. I tore my spine.

"It was my own fault. I'm 44, not 34, and I was doing all the things I could do when I was 170lbs, not 207lbs, so that was a big difference."