Wayne Lineker has revealed he “nearly died” after a traumatic battle with pneumonia, sharing an emotional video from his hospital bed where he lay hooked up to a drip and struggling to breathe.
The Celebs Go Dating star, 63, had earlier told fans he was suddenly unable to walk after falling severely ill following a flight back from Dubai. In his latest update, he said the past two weeks had been “the most traumatic of my life… a truly near-death experience”.
Wayne admitted he wasn’t sure he would have survived had he not been “four months sober”, adding that the infection he caught overseas escalated frighteningly fast. He said he immediately flew home from Dubai because he “felt so ill”, but after waking up at home unable to move, he had to call his daughter Tia, who then rushed her mum over to help before he was taken to hospital.
Doctors diagnosed him with chronic pneumonia and moved him straight into intensive care, where he spent nine to ten days. “It’s been very, very scary,” Wayne said in the video, speaking in a laboured voice. “I can’t get out of bed, I can’t walk, I need two people just to help me to the toilet.”
He also revealed he underwent an emergency operation to drain pus from his lungs, and now has a tube inserted “sucking it out” as he slowly recovers. Wayne added that the treatment has been “incredibly painful”, but he finally feels more confident about his recovery.
The nightclub owner and brother of football legend Gary Lineker said he owes his life to NHS staff. “To the incredible NHS staff who cared for me: thank you. Those two words don’t feel enough, but I mean them with all my heart,” he wrote. He added that he plans to do “something special for NHS hospital workers next season” to show his gratitude.
Despite still being on a respiratory ward and unable to walk on his own, Wayne assured fans he is “on the mend”, describing the ordeal as one he hopes no one else ever has to experience.
