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Topics: Music, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships, Health
Rashi Agarwal
Topics: Music, Celebrity, Sex and Relationships, Health
Tina Turner's second husband sacrificed one of his organs for her because he 'didn't want another woman'.
The legendary star passed away peacefully at the age of 83 on Wednesday (24 May) in Küsnach - near Zurich, Switzerland - after fighting a long illness.
The Rock 'n' Roll queen has previously battled intestinal cancer and suffered from high blood pressure for over four decades, which accelerated her kidney damage.
Turner described her life-changing experience in her 2018 memoir My Love Story, explaining that by the end of 2016, she contemplated the possibility of dying and signed up for an assisted suicide organisation.
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It so happened that her kidney damage which was accelerated by unmanaged high blood pressure which eventually forced her body to shut down.
Her kidneys were only functional by around 20 percent when she was left with two difficult options, either dialysis or transplant.
Though the singer also emphasised that she preferred death over dialysis because she didn't want to 'live on a machine'.
Like a knight in shining armour, her second husband Erwin Bach - who married Turner in 2013 after dating for 30 years - proposed to offer his 'kidney' to save her life because 'he didn't want another woman, or another life'.
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In an excerpt published by the Daily Mail from the memoir, Turner confirmed that the coveted day was 7 April, 2017 when the kidney transplant took place.
She wrote: "By December 2016, my kidneys were at a new low of 20 percent and plunging rapidly. And I faced two choices: either regular dialysis or a kidney transplant.
"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. If my kidneys were going, and it was time for me to die, I could accept that. It was OK. When it's time, it's really time. I didn't mind the thought of dying, but I was concerned about how I would go."
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She added: "One of the benefits of living in Switzerland is that assisted suicide is legal, though the patient has to inject the lethal drug herself.
"There are several organizations that facilitate the process, including Exit and Dignitas. I signed up to be a member of Exit, just in case.
"I think that's when the idea of my death became a reality for Erwin. He was very emotional about not wanting to lose me, not wanting me to leave."
Turner revealed how at this moment, Bach came forward with the idea, explaining how he knew that 'we were happy and he'd do anything to keep us together'.
She said: "He said he didn't want another woman, or another life. Then he shocked me. He said that he wanted to give me one of his kidneys.
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"I was overwhelmed by the enormity of his offer. But because I love him, my first response was to try to talk him out of taking such a serious and irreversible step."
In the 2018 autobiography, it is mentioned that Bach underwent specific psychological tests to ensure that his motivation for donating a kidney was for the right reasons.