RUSSELL Gilbert is reportedly recovering in a Melbourne hospital following emergency surgery for a brain aneurysm.

Twenty-four hours after the funnyman was reported missing by friends — prompting a police search of Melbourne’s CBD and surrounds — Gilbert was readmitted to Prahan’s Alfred Hospital for urgent brain surgery.

Gilbert’s management issued a statement to The Daily Telegraph earlier in the hope of addressing concerns of worried family and friends who hit the panic button when Gilbert disappeared two weeks after the untimely death of his fiancee, Rochelle Nolan.

News_Image_File: Russell Gilbert and Rochelle Nolan.

“Russell Gilbert underwent surgery today for a brain aneurysm,” Profile Management said in a statement.

“A long and slow recovery is expected. The family has asked that their privacy be respected during this difficult time.”

Friends of the comedian informed Confidential Gilbert was reported missing on Thursday — at around 3pm — after he was admitted for surgery that was to have taken place that day.

“He’d gone in for surgery and gotten cold feet and took himself for a walk,” said one friend yesterday. The emergency surgery subsequently had to rescheduled for the following day.

By 7pm, friends were raising the alarm on social media.

RUSSELL DID NOT ATTEND ROCHELLE’S FUNERAL

Television host David Campbell posted to Twitter: “Friends, Russell Gilbert is missing. All of his friends are worried for his safety. If you see him please call the police.”

Nova’s Ryan “Fitzy” Fitzgerald and AFL social media sites echoed the distress in similar posts.

The panicked manhunt that followed demonstrated the power of social media in raising the alarm and galvanised a worried community. Within the hour, another Twitter user reported Gilbert had been sighted in Melbourne’s CBD.

By 8.30pm Victorian police confirmed to Confidential a 55-year-old man had been found “safe and well”.

The comedian, said friends, has been in an increasingly desperate state since his fiancee and partner of 19 years took her life on September 10 at the Crown Casino.

Gilbert’s behaviour, they said, had been “erratic”.

They are now hopeful yesterday’s surgery will at least address some of the distressing symptoms Gilbert has been suffering from in recent times.

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Originally published as Gilbert has emergency surgery