Love had everything to do with it when pop icon Tina Turner was nearing death as her kidneys failed — with her second husband donating one of his organs.
In December 2016, the Private Dancer singer had just beaten intestinal cancer and a stroke when her kidneys began to fail, and was faced with dialysis or a transplant. Up stepped her second husband, the German music executive Erwin Bach, who sacrificed one of his own kidneys.
Turner, now in her early 80s, told fans of her health struggles and recovery in her 2018 autobiography My Love Story.
.Speaking of that time, Turner – who released the album containing What’s Love Got To Do With It in 1984 – said: “Only the transplant would give me a good chance of a near-normal life. But the chances of getting a donor kidney were remote.”
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
However, tests showed a transplant from Bach was possible and the pair underwent surgery in April 2017. Turner said: “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.”
She added: “The best moment was when Erwin came rolling into my room in his wheelchair. He somehow managed to look good, even handsome, as he greeted me with an energetic ‘Hi, darling!’ I was so emotional – happy, overwhelmed and relieved that we’d come through this alive.”
(Image: Dave Benett/Getty Images)
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Bach made a full recovery, and Turner still takes immunosuppressants to help ensure that her body doesn’t reject the transplant.
The couple met in 1985 when she arrived in Cologne, Germany, for her Private Dancer concert tour. Bach, who was an executive for EMI, her European record company, turned up with a gift from her manager Roger Davies – a notoriously hard to get Mercedes Jeep.
Turner wrote: “My heart suddenly started to beat boom, boom, boom, drowning out all other sounds. My hands were ice-cold. So this is what they call love at first sight, I thought. Oh my God, I am not ready for this.”
Source: Celebrities - dailystar.co.uk
