"Bad news": Jimmy Barnes rushed into emergency open heart surgery
Jimmy Barnes has shared a major health update with his fans, just hours before heading into an emergency surgery.
The iconic musician took to Instagram to share that he is set to undergo open heart surgery, after a dangerous infection was unable to be controlled.
The 67-year-old, who has only recently recovered from pneumonia, announced the news from his hospital bed on Wednesday.
"Unfortunately I got some bad news yesterday….despite everyone's best efforts the bacterial infection I've been battling over the last fortnight has apparently now spread to my heart," Barnes wrote.
"It's infected an otherwise healthy valve that was replaced some years ago due to a congenital defect, so l'll be getting open heart surgery over the next few hours to clear out this infection and put in a clean valve."
After announcing the news himself on social media, Barnes' son David Campbell spoke about his father's condition on Today Extra, saying his dad was more frustrated at letting his fans down than anything else.
Just before being struck down with the infection, Barnes was due to headline the Rock the Boat 2023 cruise festival.
"I am here to allay everyone's fears, he is in wonderful hands," Campbell said.
"He loves to work and he is frustrated for the fans who have been booking tickets and coming to his shows, he is passionate about getting crews back up and running in Australia and performing with his band, but is grateful for the nurses and doctors and if he hadn't got bacterial pneumonia, he wouldn't have had this picked up."
Campbell said the family were confident in the medical staff looking after his dad and said "it was a blessing" that the infection was picked up when it was.
"He is in great hands and he will make a great recovery, so reach out to him on social media because all the love in the world will be good for him," he said.
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