Cheryl Cole almost died from malaria

Cheryl Cole recalled the time when she caught malaria only after a year she helped beat the disease at Comic Relief.

The 30-year-old singer talks about her "near death" experience on Sport Relief, revealing that she had gotten so ill at one point, that she was given 24 hours to live, reports the Mirror.

The former wife of footie ace Ashley Cole had caught malaria due to mosquito bites during a holiday in Tanzania in 2010, after which she had fallen ill very quickly and her life was in danger.

She said she was lucky to have the best care, but some people are not, adding that a five pound mosquito net could really help keep a child safe.

When she climbed Kilimanjaro for Comic Relief in 2009, a million kids a year were dying of malaria and five years later it's 150,000 less per year, so they are beating malaria, but there are hundreds of thousands who still need help, she added.