As musical treasures go, few shine as as bright as the legendary Tina Turner.
However, in a shocking revelation, she has revealed that her light was on the verge of dimming. For, she suffered life-threatening kidney failure that was so debilitating that she considered assisted suicide.
Full story, including how her husband’s heroic actions helped turn things around, below…
The 78-year-old lifts the lid on her heath battle in her new book ‘My Love Story.’
Due October 18th, the page-turner is being serialised in the Daily Mail and it comes with a number of shocking – and, until now, secret – truths.
The icon believed she was on the road to better health after beating intestinal cancer and an earlier stroke – and then doctors diagnosed the condition.
She explained:
“By December 2016, my kidneys were at 20% and plunging rapidly. I faced two choices: either regular dialysis or a kidney transplant. Only the transplant would give me a good chance of a near-normal life. But the chances of getting a donor kidney were remote.”
Based in Switzerland, where the nation’s donor rate is one of Europe’s lowest, the diva faced the reality of likely never reaching the apex of the lengthy waiting-list.
Dialysis was arranged by her team of docs, but Tina refused, saying:
“I’m not living on a machine.”
She added…
“It wasn’t my idea of life. But the toxins in my body had started taking over. I couldn’t eat. I was surviving but not living. I began to think about death.”
The ‘Proud Mary’ performer went on to share that she had begun to make preparations for her demise and even signed up to assisted suicide group Exit.
At this point, this is when reality of the matter begun to sink in to her longtime partner Erin Bach. Turner revealed:
“He said he didn’t want another woman, or another life. Then he shocked me. He said he wanted to give me one of his kidneys.”
Despite a series of possible complications (principally related to earlier heart damage the diva had experienced due to high blood pressure), the transplant procedure was successfully completed on April 7th 2017.
Recalling the moment she woke up, she gleefully recalled when Erwin rolled into her room in a wheelchair and saying: “Hi, darling!”
62-year-old Erwin, who is an entrepreneur, has recovered fully. However, but Tina must continue to take immunosuppressants to support her rehabilitation.
Nonetheless, she asserts her happiness, beaming:
“I’m still here. We’re both still here, closer than we ever imagined.”
**********
Shocked as we are to learn of her various hardships, we’re elated to still have this force of a woman still here – adding new chapters of success to her narrative.
She continues to live quite the life and is the embodiment of being a superstar and a survivor.