‘Bert has so much to live for'

Patti Newton feared she would lose her beloved husband before they made a ‘life or death decision’

With the dire warning that he had only months to live at best, showbiz icon Bert Newton made the brave decision to have his right leg amputated just below his knee so he could have extra time with wife Patti, his two children and six grandchildren. “He had a choice and his choice was to live,” says Patti.

Bert, 82, who is a diabetic, agreed to have the life-saving surgery last week, after an infection in his toe got so bad that doctors warned him he could soon die, following a secret six-week battle to ght the infection in hospital.

Patti says she has “never seen anybody in more pain” than her husband on the morning of the May 8 operation at Melbourne’s Epworth hospital and con ded in friends that she thought she would lose “frail” Bert in the fraught weeks leading up to the operation.

“Patti has feared the worst for weeks now,” says one close friend. “Bert was not in great health before the infection, and he’s been getting steadily more and more frail because of the unbearable pain. It’s been a huge worry on the entire family. Patti always puts on a brave face, but underneath she’s been terrified that she would lose him.”

THE ROAD AHEAD

A heartbroken Patti knew they had no choice but to operate on the infected leg, amputating it below the knee.