PATTI'S PAIN: 'I CAN'T LOSE MY BERT'

ONGOING HEALTH ISSUES LED TO A SHOCK ‘LIFE OR DEATH’ SURGERY

Like the strong matriarch she’s always been, Patti Newton was armed with her bravest smile as she arrived to see her husband Bert at Melbourne’s Epworth hospital last week.

Her stoic appearance on May 10 came just hours after it was revealed that Bert, 82, had made the “life or death” decision to amputate his leg in a bid to prolong his life.

The television icon is understood to have undergone the surgery the weekend prior, following complications with a toe infection – the result of an injury New Idea understands Bert sustained during a trip to Victoria’s Mornington Peninsula over Christmas.

“He had a choice and his choice was to live,” Patti declared as she arrived to be by Bert’s side. “It is going to be a long journey, but we are all very positive.”

While Patti, 76, revealed the severity of Bert’s pain, explaining she had never seen somebody in so much discomfort, the showbiz queen maintained Bert is still very much committed to fighting for his life.

“You know Bert … onward and upward. I’m sure he will be fine, we are hoping anyway,” she shared, promising that her husband of 46 years, who Patti shares son Matthew, 44, and daughter Lauren, 41, with, was very much in “good spirits”.