Bonnie Tyler, the 74-year-old Welsh singer known for her hit "Total Eclipse of the Heart," had to be resuscitated after going into cardiac arrest when doctors tried to bring her out of an induced coma at a hospital in Portugal's Algarve region.
The medical emergency occurred late last week, complicating her recovery from life-saving surgery for a burst appendix, according to the respected Portuguese daily Correio da Manha. Tyler remains in an induced coma in the intensive care unit at Faro Hospital, where medics are working to control a serious infection caused by a perforated intestine.
Her long-time friend Liberto Mealha reported that doctors are "positive" she can make a full recovery, despite ongoing uncertainty about how her condition will evolve. Mealha, who first met the singer when he opened a nightclub in Albufeira in the 1980s near her holiday home, provided further details about her health crisis.
He explained that Tyler first felt unwell during a concert in London and underwent tests that detected nothing. She then traveled to the Algarve, where she experienced severe abdominal pain. Two days later, she visited a private hospital, which urgently transferred her to Faro Hospital because her appendix had burst, necessitating emergency surgery.
It has been reported that Tyler was bedridden for two days at her Algarve home before her husband, Robert Sullivan, took her to the private hospital. A spokesperson for the singer initially stated that she was placed in a coma to aid her recovery after the burst appendix surgery, which went well. However, subsequent reports indicated that her condition worsened, leading to cardiac arrest during the attempt to wake her.
Cardiac arrest is a medical emergency where the heart suddenly stops pumping blood, causing unconsciousness and requiring immediate CPR and defibrillation. A ruptured appendix is also severe, allowing bacteria to leak into the abdominal cavity and causing life-threatening infections.
Mealha noted that Sullivan remains by Tyler's bedside daily, leaving only to sleep at home at night. He expressed gratitude to the hospital staff and remarked that if Tyler had stayed in the United Kingdom, she might not have survived.
