Tony Blackburn has opened up about his health scare earlier this year and admitted he “did not realise” at the time just how sick he was.
Back in April, the BBC Radio 2 presenter, 80, battled life-threatening sepsis and pneumonia for three weeks in hospital after he suddenly “collapsed on the floor”.
Appearing on ITV’s Good Morning Britain on Friday, Blackburn described what happened to hosts Kate Garraway and Ben Shephard.
He had actually appeared on Shephard’s ITV game show Tipping Point just two weeks before his health took a turn.
He said: “I went home, I collapsed on the floor. I had pneumonia in me, I didn’t realise.”
After three weeks in hospital I have just been discharged and am now at home to have some more treatment by having a daily injection for a few days from a hospital near me. Thanks to everyone at the Wellington Hospital in London doctors and nurses , for looking after me . After…
— Tony Blackburn (@tonyblackburn) May 3, 2023
He then revealed that he was rushed to A&E and the doctor told him he would be in hospital for a while.
He said: “I had sepsis, I had poisoned blood, and it went into the heart. I think probably if they hadn’t caught it soon I wouldn’t be here.”
Garraway asked whether or not he had felt ill before being admitted.
Blackburn, who had been touring with his Sounds Of The 60s live tour at the time, confessed he had not been feeling too well after one of the shows before collapsing a few days later.
He added: “I was doing shows with pneumonia, as it’s very difficult to know if you’ve got it or not.
“I felt just a little bit under the weather I suppose, but I was going on doing the shows and enjoying them and that was it. I didn’t realise I was so unwell.”
