Boxing legend Jeff Fenech is up and walking around his hospital ward just a week after life-saving open heart surgery.
The former triple world champion, 55, was photographed triumphantly raising his arms by friends visiting him in a Bangkok hospital on Tuesday.
Fenech gave a wide smile and showed off the bandages along the length of his bare chest under his green hospital gown.
Boxing legend Jeff Fenech is up and walking around his Bangkok hospital ward just a week after life-saving open heart surgery
The boxer has improved dramatically since he was rushed to intensive care last Friday after he began coughing up blood at a training camp
Another friend said he was on the mend in another photo of him getting a heart checkup from a doctor wielding a stethoscope.
The boxer has improved dramatically since he was rushed to intensive care last Friday after he began coughing up blood at a training camp.
However, though his recovery appears ahead of schedule, Fenech will be unable to walk his daughter Jess down the aisle at her wedding this weekend.
Friends offered to fly a private jet to Bangkok to take him to Sydney so he could attend the nuptials, but doctors vetoed the plan over fears of infection.
He will instead watch the ceremony on Skype, and his wife will still be in attendance.
Fenech will spend the next week in hospital and will be moved to a local hotel to continue treatment, if his speedy recovery keeps going.
However, though his recovery appears ahead of schedule, Fenech (pictured with his wife and daughters) will be unable to walk his daughter Jess (third from left) down the aisle at her wedding this weekend
Another friend said he was on the mend in another photo of him getting a heart checkup from a doctor wielding a stethoscope
‘I’m getting better, mate. I’m in my own room which they didn’t think would happen in three days. It usually takes a week. The surgeon came and couldn’t believe how I had improved,’ he told the Daily Telegraph on Sunday.
‘I’m on antibiotics now to make sure there aren’t any infections. My heart valve was f**ked. I’ve got a new one. I’m still in pain – they cut me (open) down the middle of my chest.
‘I haven’t slept for days which is a pain in the a**e but I’m heaps, heaps better. They are scared of me flying and getting an infection.’
Fenech’s wife and three children rushed from Australia to his bedside following his five-hour operation last Tuesday night to repair a severely infected heart valve which almost killed him.
The boxer won’t be able to walk Jess down the aisle as he recovers in a Bangkok hospital, and will instead watch the wedding via Skype. Pictured: Jess’ engagement
Friends offered to fly a private jet to Bangkok to take the him to Sydney so he could attend Jess’ nuptials, but doctors vetoed the plan over fears of infection
‘He’s a fighter, he always has been, so he’ll get through this,’ his emotional daughter Kayla told Seven News on Friday.
‘It was very hard to see him like that I hope to never see him like that again. We all just started crying because he looked so sick, but we were all relieved.’
Kayla and her siblings arrived at the hospital just 10 minutes before their dad was wheeled into theatre for the marathon surgery.
‘Thinking of you non stop. Love you so so much. See you very soon. Can’t wait to give you a big cuddle, kiss and to just be by your side,’ she said.
‘You’re going to pull through this dad. You’re the strongest man I’ve ever known,’ Kayla posted on Instagram at the time.
Her sister Jess added on Twitter: ‘Love you so much dad, we are all praying for you and thinking of you every single second that goes by and will be right by your side as soon as you open your eyes! You are so strong! You are a fighter! Love you to death.’
What was originally meant to be keyhole surgery changed to open heart surgery at the last minute.
Fenech had to be operated on in an elevated position sitting up so surgeons could drain fluid from his lungs while replacing the severely damaged heart valve.
‘We couldn’t crying because he looked so sick but we’re all relieved,’ Kayla told Seven News after the operation.
‘The next seven days are going to be incredibly important for Jeff, particularly with the infection status,’ family friend Dominic Jarvis told Nine News.
‘We’re hoping he’s got more strength left in him – and I’m sure he has – to get through this last hospital aspect of the ordeal.’
Fenech is shattered by the setback, unable to return to Australia in time to walk his daughter Jess (centre) down the aisle next week after doctors warned it would be too risky to fly home
He received a call in hospital from old mate, ex-heavyweight champion Mike Tyson last Monday
Heartbroken about missing the wedding, Fenech’s spirits got a much-needed boost on Monday when he received a call from an old mate, ex-heavyweight champion Mike Tyson.
The pair have been friends since 2005 and Fenech trained Tyson when the world heavyweight champion came out of retirement.
‘Tyson and his wife (Lakiha) called to see how Jeff was. That lifted Jeff’s spirits,’ Fenech close friend and renowned businessman Mark Bouris told The Daily Telegraph.
‘Jeff is no stranger to personal conflict. Like everything else, I know he will battle through it.
Doctors feared for Fenech’s life when he was rushed to hospital last Friday.
An emotional Fenech broke the concerning news about his health to fans from his hospital bed the next day.
Jeff Fenech (pictured with his wife Suzee and daughter Jess) was rushed to hospital
Fenech began boxing in 1984, the same year he represented Australia at the Olympics
‘I’ve got some pretty bad news, I’ve got an infected valve that’s connected to my heart,’ he explained in a video posted by Boxing Epicentre.
‘Which means over the next few days they’ll try to get rid of the infection and then I’ll have to have surgery.’
He then broke down in tears about not being able to stay at the camp with his boxers.
‘I feel really bad for the rest of the team,’ a distraught Fenech said.
Fenech began boxing in 1984, the same year he represented Australia at the Olympics in Los Angeles.
He cemented his status as a professional boxer and was inducted into the International Boxing Hall of Fame in 2002.
His record stood at 29 wins, three losses and a draw from 33 bouts when he retired in 1996.
Fenech’s wife of 23 years Suzee has flown to Thailand to be by her husband’s bedside