‘I thought I was going to die’: Jimmy Barnes tells all in interview with 60 Minutes
Jimmy Barnes was so close to death last year that emergency surgery was his only option, the rock legend has revealed in a new interview.
Jimmy Barnes was so close to death last year that emergency open heart surgery was his only option, the Australian rock legend has revealed in a new interview.
Speaking to 60 Minutes Barnes said there “was a point where I was lyin’ and I, you know I just said to my wife Jane, ‘I don’t think I’m gonna make it this time.’”
The rock legend first began to realise something was wrong in November last year when he was performing at a celebration to mark the 50th year of Mushroom Music.
“Even though I felt like I could even hardly walk, I just had to get there and I’ve got out of bed, I remember being backstage, and I’m sweating and, you know, I had a fever,” he said.
“There was a lot of pain. My back was really sore by this point, you know, I could, I was struggling to walk.”
Barnes was eventually taken to St Vincents Hospital in Sydney, and was treated by a team which included cardiologists, neurologists, haematologists and infectious disease experts, who set about investigating why Barnesy’s body wasn’t working.
Initially medical experts thought the infection was centred around Barnes’ spine.
But after operating on his back, instead of getting better, he continued to deteriorate.
It became clear there was still infection somewhere in his body, and so the next place to look was the heart.
Eventually a PET scan revealed endocarditis, a life-threatening inflammation of the heart.
The doctor then discovered the infection was attacking a prosthetic valve Barnes had received 15 years ago.
It meant there was only one option – emergency open heart surgery.
The condition if left untreated would be fatal.
Surgeon Paul Jansz told the program he was deeply concerned about his patient.
“They’re difficult operations,” he said.
“What you don’t know you’re going to get is how much the infection has eaten into the heart tissue.”
Seven hours of surgery took its toll.
“You can’t describe the pain,” said Barnes.
“Literally if you think about it, that scar is, it’s like you’ve been ripped in half. Your best friend is a pillow. You know, you can’t cough, if you cough, it’s just agony.”
Guiding Barnes through rehab was his wife Jane.
“Without a doubt, the fact that my family were there, and Janes was there, I wasn’t going anywhere,” he said.
“You know I wanted, you know to spend every breadth I could, you know, spend with Jane. And, if that meant fighting to live longer I was going to do it, you know.”
From the moment news of Barnes surgery was announced, the well-wishes flooded in.
His 13-year-old granddaughter Ruby has proven the strength of the Barnes’ singing genes, standing in for him at performances.
His son David said his father has nine lives.
“I don’t know how many more second chances this guy needs,” he said.
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