TV legend Bert Newton has faced a “life or death decision” that has resulted in the 82-year-old undergoing a leg amputation over the weekend.
The news regarding the TV WEEK Gold Logie winner’s harrowing ordeal broke via entertainment reporter Peter Ford, who had been in contact with Patti Newtown over the weekend, during radio show The Morning Rush with Sean and Kate.
According to Ford, Bert’s health concerns began around Christmas with an infection in his toe. After the infection failed to clear up, Bert ultimately decided to have his leg amputated over the weekend in a bid to save his life.
“It got worse… he was seeing doctors and specialists and they couldn’t seem to get it right, it kept on spreading. Basically he was told last week, you have a couple of months to live, or if you have your leg amputated, you’ll probably have a few years. So, he agreed to have the leg amputated on Saturday,” Peter told the radio hosts.
Bert faced a “life or death decision” over the amputation.
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He then went on to describe it as a “life or death decision that was presented” to the star, and one that would impact the rest of his life with wife, Patti.
“It’s a big decision for anyone to make, but it’s also a practical thing, because they live in a two-storey place with the bedrooms and the bathrooms upstairs, so they’re now having to convert the house downstairs because Patti doesn’t want him to go into a nursing home,” he said.
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Bert is a quadruple Gold Logie recipient.
(Image: Getty)Bert has dealt with a myriad of serious illnesses in the past, including a several bouts of pneumonia and a stint in intensive care after undergoing quadruple heart bypass surgery.
His most recent hospital stint came in November last year with wife, Patti, sharing a snap of the TV veteran in a hospital ward.
“Bert’s been in hospital, all good,” she captioned it. “‘He’s Got a Lot of Living to Do.”
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Bert has a loving family including six grandkids.
(Instagram)After four-and-a-half decades, two children and six grandchildren together, Patti recently told Now To Love she would be lost without Bert.
“We lived and worked everything that was happening on television, we’ve spent a lot of time together. If anything happens to either of us, whichever one it is will find it very difficult because we’ve been in one another’s pockets for well over 50 years,” Patti says.
Bert has previously credited his doting wife for nursing him back to health during one of his many health battles, and we have no doubt she’ll be doing the same now.
“Patti takes extra special care of what I do and particularly what I don’t do,” he said.
Wishing the showbiz icon a speedy recovery.
