Patti Newton reveals Bert’s cause of death

Bert Newton died on Saturday at age 83 after having his leg amputated earlier in May of this year.

“It was complications with everything,’ she told Daily Mail Australia. “When you have a leg amputated you have to be on a lot of painkillers and Bert had had, just this year alone, he’s had eight procedures, which all involved anaesthetics and that affects you pretty badly.”

“Your whole system and just everything closes down really. That was all,” she said.

Speaking on radio yesterday, showbiz reporter and family friend Peter Ford said that Bert’s death had come after a “horrible year” for the TV legend, who had been in hospital since January and had his leg amputated in May in what was meant to be a lifesaving operation.

“It was one complication after another – a few weeks ago they were going to amputate the second leg, but they didn’t end up doing it,” he said, explaining Newton instead entered a palliative care facility where he would remain until his death.

“He just wanted to get home – up until 7 o’clock Saturday night, he was still talking about getting better and getting home,” he said.

Before his death, Newton had waged a decade-long battle with ill health – one that rarely seemed to slow him down, with gruelling live theatre appearances in shows like Wicked, Annie and Rocky Horror Picture Show in the past 10 years.

His health issues included a 2011 bout of viral pneumonia and a second bout of pneumonia in 2017 that saw him “rushed to hospital.”

He underwent lifesaving quadruple bypass surgery in November 2012, having been admitted to hospital twice in the prior year. He was hospitalised for many weeks as he recovered from the op.

In November last year there were fresh fears for Newton’s health in November last year after Patti posted a picture of him in a hospital bed to her Instagram account. But she assured fans he was “all good” despite the hospital stay: “He’s got a lot of living to do.”

And then in May this year came news that shocked his many fans: Bert’s leg had been amputated, a drastic move that was the result of a medical ultimatum: Lose your leg, or you could die within months.

Sadly, Bert’s luck ran out just a few months later. Speaking on radio at the time and unaware of what was to come, family friend Ford said Bert wanted to stick around for as long as possible.

“Bert wants to keep on living, because he adores Patti, his children and his grandkids, and he wants to have as much time as he can with them’,” he said.

Originally published as Patti Newton reveals Bert’s cause of death: ‘Complications with everything’