BBC star Bacon put into coma after infection
RICHARD BACON, the radio and television presenter, is in a medically-induced coma after developing a life-threatening respiratory illness.
Bacon fell ill on a flight while travelling to Britain from the US, and was initially well enough to post pictures on social media from his hospital bed. He was thought to have double pneumonia.
His condition worsened, and his spokesman said yesterday: “Richard remains in a medically-induced coma after falling ill last week but he is improving all the time and everyone is hopeful that he will recover quickly thanks to the incredible NHS treatment he is receiving.
Christine, Bacon’s mother, told the local Mansfield Chad newspaper that he is gradually being brought out of the coma. “They kept him like that for a week and we hadn’t left his side. At one point we really felt we might lose him.
“It was such a relief when he opened his eyes. Although he is not responding to us very well yet, we can see that he is getting better,” she said. “The doctors have said that he [will be] very distressed and confused after being in a coma for a week … and that we need to keep talking to him.
She added in a tweet: “I’m sure he’ll come through this.”
The former Blue Peter and Radio 5 live presenter, 42, now lives in the US with his family. He was part of the BBC team covering the recent royal wedding. On July 5, he tweeted a picture of himself smiling in a bed at Lewisham Hospital in south London, wired up to monitors, saying: “I’m [at] A&E (Lewisham) on the NHS’S 70th birthday. I don’t like to miss a party. Thank God I got ill in Britain (actually on the way to Britain, was taken off the plane in a wheelchair).” The message ended: “Viva the NHS. Happy 70th.”
He was treated with antibiotics and put on a ventilator as his condition deteriorated, and on Wednesday had a tracheostomy procedure.