A close friend of Bonnie Tyler has described what happened in the run-up to the singer being placed in an induced coma after she was hospitalized in Portugal on Wednesday (May 6).
Earlier this week, it emerged that the 74-year-old star had been taken to a hospital near her home in Faro, Portugal, where she required emergency surgery.
The situation was first shared publicly via an Instagram update posted 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.
“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.”
Another update on Tyler’s condition was then issued on Thursday evening by a spokesman.
“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.”
Now, Tyler’s friend Liberto Mealha — an Algarve-based businessman — has spoken about the weeks leading up to her hospitalization.
It’s reported that the ‘Holding Out For A Hero’ singer began feeling unwell back in March while performing at a show in London.
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.”
Mealha, who is said to have known Tyler since the 1980s, also claimed that her husband, Robert Sullivan, has remained with her throughout the ordeal.
“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 married Tyler in 1973.
Tyler is expected to embark on a European run of dates later this year, marking 50 years since her 1976 breakthrough ‘Lost In France’, which charted in multiple countries.
She is scheduled to take the stage in Malta and Germany later this month, with further performances planned across the UK and elsewhere in Europe, including Austria, Hungary, Turkey and Romania.
At the moment, it’s not known whether the upcoming shows will proceed as planned following her operation.