Bonnie Tyler's friend shares details of singer's 'severe pain' before being placed in induced coma
Bonnie Tyler's friend has detailed the lead up to the singer being put into an induced coma after being hospitalized in Portugal on Wednesday (May 6).
It was revealed earlier this week that the 74-year-old music legend had been rushed to a hospital near her home in Faro, Portugal, for emergency surgery.
The news of her surgery was revealed in an Instagram post on Wednesday.
The statement read: "We are very sorry to announce that Bonnie has been admitted to hospital in Faro, Portugal, where she has a home, for emergency intestinal surgery.
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"The surgery went well and she is now recuperating.
"We know that all of her family, friends and fans will be concerned about this news and will be wishing her well for a full and swift recovery."
A spokesman for the Welsh singer then shared a further update on her health on Thursday evening.
"Bonnie has been put into an induced coma by her doctors to aid her recovery," he said.
"We know that you all wish her well and ask for privacy at this difficult time please. We will issue a further statement when we are able to."
Tyler’s friend Liberto Mealha, a businessman based in the Algarve, has now spoken out about the weeks leading up to her hospitalization.
Reportedly the 'Holding Out For A Hero' singer first started to feel unwell in March while playing a gig in London, England.
Speaking to The Sun, Mealha shared: "She started feeling unwell during a concert in London and went to a doctor for tests, but they didn’t detect anything there.
"She decided to travel to the Algarve, where she began to feel severe abdominal pain.
"Two days later, she went to a private hospital, which urgently transferred her to the hospital in Faro because her appendix had burst and she needed emergency surgery."
According to Mealha – who has reportedly known Tyler since the 80s – Robert Sullivan, the singer's husband, has been by her side during her health woes.
"He’s very grateful to the doctors and nurses at the Faro hospital and believes that if Bonnie had stayed in the United Kingdom she would no longer be here," he said of Sullivan, who wed Tyler in 1973.
The Grammy-nominated star is due to tour Europe later this year to mark 50 years since the release of her 1976 breakthrough hit 'Lost In France', which entered the charts across Europe.
Tyler is due to perform in Malta and Germany later this month, and her upcoming tour also includes shows across the UK, as well as in Austria, Hungary, Turkey and Romania.
It's unclear if this these dates will still go ahead following her recent surgery.
Niamh Shackleton