Richard Bacon was today spotted with a bandage on his neck as he continues to recover from a deadly infection that left him hospitalised.
The former Blue Peter presenter, 42, was seen wearing the plaster beneath his t-shirt collar as he strolled through the streets of London on Tuesday.
His family previously revealed he underwent a tracheotomy to help him breathe as medics battled to save his life after he was struck down with a deadly infection.
Bacon, a father of two, spent 11 days in an induced coma while battling the illness, which he described as ‘bird flu in both lungs, at Lewisham Hospital, south-east London.
The star needed a Zimmer frame when he was discharged last Thursday but was today seen walking unaided.
Recovery: Former Blue Peter presenter Richard Bacon was spotted strolling through London with a bandage on his neck. His sister has previously spoken of how the TV star underwent a tracheotomy as medics battled to save his life in hospital after he was struck with a virus
The 42-year-old, pictured today, spent 11 days in an induced while battling a deadly infection he described as ‘bird flu in both lungs’ before being discharged last Thursday
Bacon is now recovering with his wife Rebecca, son Arthur, six, and four-year-old daughter Ivy, at their London home.
The broadcaster was first admitted to hospital at the start of the month after he fell ill while travelling back to Britain from the US and had to be taken off the plane in a wheelchair.
Doctors suspected he was suffering from pneumonia but he failed to respond to treatment and was placed in a medically induced coma.
His sister Juliet Bacon later revealed he underwent a tracheotomy to help him breathe.
The star was previously seen walking with a Zimmer frame but walked unaided in London
The top of a plaster could be seen above the collar of Bacon’s blue t-shirt during the outing
The TV star told how he will turn to therapy to help cope with the ’emotional scars’
Speaking for the first time about the experience yesterday, Bacon revealed how he could hear voices even while in the coma.
He told BBC 5Live: ‘One of the drugs they use to put you under is hallucinogenic and you take in things. You can hear conversations in a coma and start to piece together a story.
‘There were things I could remember that were accurate and then things that were nonsense – my brain stitched together a new reality’.
After more than a week battling the lung infection doctors decided to bring him out of an induced coma – and the sedated him again because of his violent reaction.
He said: ‘They called my wife Rebecca, turned off all the sedatives and its hours and hours later before you rejoin the world.
‘Rebecca had to put kids to bed so I woke up surrounded by strangers. I was kicking off to point they had to restrain me, was confused and frightened.
‘In the end they put me back under and brought me back out two days later.’
He finally left University Hospital Lewisham in south-east London last Thursday and shared a photo of himself looking gaunt in his bed alongside his children.
Richard Bacon, pictured with his son Arthur, six and Ivy, four, has revealed he heard voices and World Cup commentary around him as he lay in a coma
Richard looked frail as he left Lewisham Hospital with his wife Rebecca last Thursday and said he is still struggling to eat and sleep after his ordeal
He was seen looking frail leaving hospital using a Zimmer frame and a dressing on his neck where doctors made a hole for breathing apparatus.
Bacon revealed how he ‘nearly died’ during the early stages of treatment.
He said: ‘I nearly died the first two nights, I didn’t know at the time. The hospital thought I would die the first night and the second night.
‘My blood oxygen levels went to 70 per cent, if you get less than that you get brain damage and die. The infection was winning. They kept saying to Rebecca, ‘he is very ill”,’ but added he was given 250 injections and kept fighting.
He said: ‘They were struggling to get me under, they had to use so many different needles,’ he said. ‘They used so many sedatives, they paralysed me.’
Bacon said the fight is not over and will not drink again as he tries to stay healthy.
Mr Bacon was told they had to put him to sleep to help him survive a lung infection and for two nights it was touch and go if he’d make it
Richard Bacon and his mother Christine Bacon enjoying a drink together – but he has vowed never to drink again to get healthy
He said: ‘I’m still in the thick of it. I can’t eat properly, I don’t sleep properly. The infection is completely gone but the psychological scars need dealing with.
‘I’ve really embraced fitness this year, it’s been the healthiest year of my life. My attitude was ‘I’ll be fine.
‘I’ve always drunk too much, drunk too quickly, giving up drinking altogether forever. I need some positive change out of this otherwise its a complete waste of time.’
The TV star said he and his wife are having therapy to deal with the ordeal saying: ‘We’re both big believers in therapy. We live in a town in which people believe in therapy in Los Angeles.
‘The next stage for me is about dealing with the psychological scars.’
Bacon, 42, posted a photo on Instagram of his wife holding his hand on his hospital bed, and it it appeared she was also wearing her husband’s ring on her index finger
Richard Bacon shared a picture of an empty hospital bed as he finally prepared to leave hospital, and thanked staff for saving his life
Mr Bacon looked well in May when he joined the BBC’s coverage of the royal wedding, presenting from the Duchess of Sussex’s hometown in California.
He has recently carved out a career in America presenting a topical news programme called Top 30, which is broadcast nationally on Fox television stations.
But his career in the UK suffered a setback in October 1998 when the then Blue Peter presenter was pictured snorting cocaine.
He was sacked from the BBC children’s show by the Head of BBC children’s programmes, Lorraine Heggessey, after admitting taking the drug.
But he went on to have a hugely successful career with the corporation on TV and radio before moving to the US.