Bert Newton has leg amputated in ‘life or death decision’

Australian entertainment legend Bert Newton has reportedly undergone a leg amputation, a result of a “life or death decision” the 82-year-old faced in his latest battle with ill health.

Entertainment reporter Peter Ford broke the news on-air on The Morning Rush with Sean and Kate on Monday morning, revealing that he’d been in contact with Newton’s family over the weekend.

Ford said that Newton’s latest serious health problem had started before Christmas with an infected toe.

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“It got worse … he was seeing doctors and specialists and they couldn’t seem to get it right, it kept on spreading. Basically he was told last week, you have a couple of months to live, or if you have your leg amputated, you’ll probably have a few years. So, he agreed to have the leg amputated on Saturday,” Ford said.

He described it as a “life or death decision that was presented to (Newton).”

Ford said the amputation would mean some big adjustments for quadruple Gold Logie-winner Bert and his wife of 47 years, Patti.

“It’s a big decision for anyone to make, but it’s also a practical thing, because they live in a two-storey place with the bedrooms and the bathrooms upstairs, so they’re now having to convert the house downstairs because Patti doesn’t want him to go into a nursing home,” he said.

But despite this latest health setback, Ford stressed that the Newtons were keen for fans to know they didn’t view theirs as a “sad” story.

“They said, ‘We had a choice. Other people don’t have a choice. Bert wants to keep on living, because he adores Patti, his children and his grandkids, and he wants to have as much time as he can with them’.”

Fears for the TV icon’s health were last sparked in November 2020 when Patti shared a photo of him in a hospital bed on social media.

“Bert’s been in hospital, all good,” she wrote alongside the image. “He’s got a lot of living to do.”

Newton has battled several health issues in the past, and spent more than a week in hospital for pneumonia in 2011.

A year later he faced a six-month recovery period after being released from hospital following quadruple bypass surgery.

News.com.au has contacted representatives for the Newtons for comment.