Connolly’s health turn expected, says Tassie doc

A LAUNCESTON surgeon who spotted a Parkinson’s disease symptom in comedian Sir Billy Connolly in 2013 says he is saddened to hear Connolly’s condition has deteriorated.

The Scottish comic’s close friend Michael Parkinson said on British lifestyle show Saturday Morning with James Martin that Connolly was suffering from the dementia associated with Parkinson’s disease.

Surgeon Gary Fettke, who met Connolly in a Los Angeles hotel lobby in 2013, was concerned the comic was showing signs of Parkinson’s after watching the way he walked.

Yesterday, Dr Fettke said the news was “sad but not unexpected”.

“One generally follows the other,” he said.

“That’s why we need to be addressing the causes of Parkinson’s and looking at different ways of managing it … at the moment we are managing the symptoms rather than the causes.”

According to Britain’s The Sun, Connolly “no longer recognises close friends” as he continues to battle Parkinson’s disease.

He went public with his diagnosis five years ago.

Parkinson, speaking on the James Martin show on Saturday, recalled a recent meeting with the 75-year-old Connolly, and how they had an “awkward dinner”.

He said: “The sadness of Billy now is that wonderful brain is dulled.

“I saw him recently — he’s now living in America — and it was very sad, because I was presenting him with a prize at an awards ceremony.

“We had an awkward dinner together because I wasn’t quite sure if he knew who I was or not.

“But we were walking out after the presentation to go down and have our picture taken, and he turned to me and put his hand on my shoulders.”

Last year, Connolly was knighted for his services to entertainment as well as his charity work, which in recent years has involved raising awareness for Parkinson’s disease.