BBC Radio 2 star Vernon Kay says 'it's killing me' as he issues plea for help after diagnosis

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Vernon Kay has confessed "it's killing me" as he reached out for assistance regarding a debilitating health issue. The 51-year-old presenter has been forthcoming about living with Morton's neuroma, a nerve disorder that impacts the third and fourth toes.

According to the NHS , the condition involves a "thickening of tissue" surrounding a nerve in the foot. Sufferers typically experience what's characterised as a "shooting, stabbing or burning pain," or the peculiar feeling of having stepped on a pebble.

While rest and ibuprofen can provide relief for many, certain cases require consultation with a GP or podiatrist. Fortunately for the BBC Radio 2 host, a serendipitous meeting at a motorway service station brought him into contact with a foot expert.

The unexpected encounter occurred while Vernon was grappling with an electric vehicle charging point. Speaking to his audience, Vernon recounted how he was "faffing around" when a helpful stranger intervened and offered assistance.

He explained: "I've got Morton's neuroma, it's a nerve issue between the third and fourth toe on your foot and it's so painful. So yesterday I was at the services, I was charging the electric car, and I was struggling a little bit with the machine that actually does it, I was faffing around.

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"There's no instructions, it just assumes that you know how to do it, and I didn't. I didn't know how to pay, I didn't know how to get it started. Anyway, we got there in the end and this gentleman who was parked in the bay next door to my car wound down his window and said, 'Hi Vernon,' I said, 'How are you?'

"We shook hands, he said, 'You alright there? You struggling?' I said, 'A little bit, I think it's working now'.

"When we said that it went [buzzing noise] and then it started to charge my car. We got chatting away, 'Where you going? Blah blah blah.' Said, 'I'm going just down the road but I've run out of energy so I'm just topping up my car'. 'Brilliant, what do you do for a living?' 'I'm a foot specialist'."

Vernon explained the bloke then revealed his name was Nick. He carried on: "I said, 'Nick, open your passenger door please'. He said, 'What?' I said, 'I've got a serious foot issue, you need to look at it, it's killing me'. He went, 'Are you serious?' I went, 'Yeah'.

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"So he opened his passenger, I sat in the passenger seat, I took my sock and my shoe off and I got a free foot examination by Nick in the car park of the services. If there were cameras there it would have looked well dodgy."

Vernon revealed Nick "squeezed his foot" and immediately identified the issue. This led him to arrange another consultation with the doctor and receive steroid treatment for his foot.

He added: "I thought why not, he's very expensive is Nick, he's a private foot doctor, does all the Premier League players, so I'm like, 'scooch over'. It was a bit weird ."