The 42-year-old had been put in a medically induced coma after contracting a mystery respiratory virus
RICHARD Bacon told yesterday how medics fighting to save his life rammed a needle in his chest and said: “I thought ‘this is it’”
The DJ has broken his silence after waking from a week-long medically induced coma, admitting he thought he was about to die.
The former Blue Peter and BBC Radio 5Live host, 42, began to show signs of improvement on Friday following six nights of fighting for life, after contracting a potentially deadly lung infection.
But the broadcaster was yesterday able to speak out for the first time – thanking NHS staff for saving his life to the relief of his terrified friends and family.
In messages on his Twitter profile, he wrote: “So I did six days straight in a coma, and been here another four since.
“It’s an as-yet unidentified double chest infection. I nearly died. At one point, as I was run down a hallway to ICU at midnight, with a massive needle jammed in my chest a bit like Pulp Fiction, I thought ‘this is it’.
“How’s everything going to affect my kids’ lives? Who’s going to sit my poor dad down and say, ‘I’m sorry, we did everything we could.’ But then I didn’t die, and I didn’t die because I’m on the NHS.”
He added: “This is how good Lewisham Hospital is. I walked in off the street simply complaining of being short of breath. Within 90 minutes they had placed me into a life-saving six day coma.”
He also posted two quotes from American children’s TV presenter Mister Rogers about “the meaning of love”.
Bacon had previously posted a photograph of himself being admitted to A&E after taking ill on a flight, but dramatically took a turn for the worse.
He was initially diagnosed with pneumonia in both lungs, but medics took the emergency action when he failed to respond to treatment prompting fears for his life.
Last Friday his mum, Christine, thanked well-wishers for their support as he regained consciousness for the first time, but admitted her son was not yet in the clear.
She said: “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 added: “The doctors have said that he is very distressed and confused after being in a coma for a week... and that we need to keep talking to him and reminding him of where he is.
“There’s a long way to go yet, but this is a very positive step and it has eased my mind.”
The presenter started his career on BBC Radio Nottingham before going on to present on national television and radio including The Big Breakfast, Top of the Pops, BBC Radio 5 live and BBC 6 Music.
He now works in the US where he hosts a daily news magazine show called the 30.
Yesterday The Sun told how he had already been secretly planning to move back to the UK before taking ill, in order to spend more time with his family.
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