‘Stranded’: Derryn Hinch’s 12 hour nightmare after horror fall
Derryn Hinch made a heartbreaking appearance on Monday night’s ACA where he confessed he could only have ‘a month’ left.
Veteran broadcaster Derryn Hinch was just a shell of his former self when he appeared on Monday night’s A Current Affair.
Hinch, 81, has been struggling with his health for years, but things have worsened recently and he revealed that he’s had 30 falls in the last year alone.
“I’ve had 30 falls in the last year. And they just happen, even when I’m holding onto Johnny [his walker]. I sometimes just hit the floor.”
It was revealed that Hinch’s most recent fall left him stranded on the floor for 12 hours until he managed to get help.
It led to a three week stay in hospital and his body is still recovering as a result of the terrifying incident.
“I didn’t know that I had broken two ribs, but the thing was, I was just lying there. I couldn’t move my legs. I couldn’t use my arms. I couldn’t crawl to my bedroom to get a blanket. I just felt totally stranded.”
Showing he’s still kept his trademark sense of humour, he glanced over at the chair on his balcony and said: “This is a great place to cark it. I mean, sitting in that chair, starring out the clouds. Good night nurse. Goodbye, world!”
Hinch has also been recovering from an infected leg which blew up after being injured in an earlier fall.
It came after a fall last Christmas left him with two black eyes and prompted him to start relying on his walker.
It’s been a difficult few years for Hinch.
He had facial melanoma that required multiple radiation treatments, a life-threatening blood infection, and in December last year had an electric shock procedure to correct an irregular heartbeat. He also had liver cancer and underwent a liver transplant 14 years ago.
Despite his ailing health, Hinch insisted that he’s had an “incredible” life, whether he manages to last another month or another decade.
“I’ve had such an incredible life. I never dreamt it, you know. And I hold a seat in history, and it’s pretty good, and health permitting there’s plenty more to come. If I last another month or another ten years, that’s all good by me.”
Going on to talk about the numerous ups and downs in his career that spans more than five decades, he joked: “I used to have a joke about Hinch as a man of his convictions, and I’d say, yeah, I just wish I didn’t have so many.”
Hinch famously made headlines after being jailed for naming a convicted child abuser who was working with children. He would later go on to create a political party focused on protecting vulnerable children, successfully pushing for laws preventing registered sex offenders from travelling overseas.
In 2011, Hinch received a lifesaving liver transplant after battling cancer and advanced cirrhosis, a result, he admits, of years of excessive drinking.
“It was just stupid. I drank far, far too much,” he told Channel 10.
“I got a 28-year-old’s liver, and I met his family. People criticised me because I still had my occasional glass of wine, white wine with ice in it or frozen grapes.
“I thought if I have five more years to live I want to live them well and enjoy my life.”
