New Zealand- SURGEONS feared that Rolling Stone Keith Richards might DIE from a blood clot in his brain, it emerged last night.

Sources in New Zealand said the 62-year- old’s condition was much more serious than first reported and that Keith is still not well enough to leave the country.

One insider said: “At one stage things looked pretty grim.”

Richards had surgery for the clot while in Auckland’s Ascot Hospital after falling from a coconut tree.

His skull had to be drilled during the op.

There are fears he will not be fit enough for the opening night of the band’s European tour in Barcelona on May 27.

Keith was having a break from the Bigger Bang tour when he fell. Sir Mick Jagger is said to have been furious that he risked injury by “larking about”.

As revealed in The Sun, Keith is having miniature bottles of vodka smuggled into hospital.

A hospital source said: “He had a fright and managed to stop smoking and drinking for a few days.

“But then he started feeling really rough and withdrawn so he decided to get straight back on it with vodka miniatures.”

It is believed the minis were brought in by his wife, Patti Hansen, 50.