UPDATE: Bonnie Tyler in induced coma after appendix bursts in Portugal

A CLOSE friend of Bonnie Tyler has revealed the legendary singer had to have emergency surgery after her appendix burst.

Algarve-based businessman Liberto Mealha said the 74-year-old began to feel intense abdominal pain shortly after arriving in Portugal where she has a second home following inconclusive tests in London.

Bonnie, godmother to Mr Mealha’s daughter, remained in an induced coma in intensive care at Faro Hospital this morning.

Her spokesman has said she has been put in the coma “to aid her recovery” with leading Portuguese tabloid Correio da Manha reporting today she is suffering a generalised infection which is being treated with high doses of antibiotics after having her appendix removed.

Opening up on the Welsh songstress’s ongoing health battle, Mr Mealha said: “She started feeling unwell during a concert in London and went to a doctor for tests, but they didn’t detect anything there.

“She decided to travel to the Algarve, where she began to feel severe abdominal pain.

“Two days later, she went to a private hospital, which urgently transferred her to the hospital in Faro because her appendix had burst and she needed emergency surgery.”

The entrepreneur, who first met The Total Eclipse of the Heart singer when he opened a well-known Albufeira nightclub in the eighties, told Correio da Manha Bonnie’s doting husband Robert Sullivan is spending his days by her hospital bedside and only leaving to sleep at home at nighttime.

He added: “He’s very grateful to the doctors and nurses at the Faro hospital and believes that if Bonnie had stayed in the United Kingdom she would no longer be here.”

News of the singer’s health woes first emerged on Wednesday following reports she had undergone emergency bowel surgery.

A spokesman reacted by saying: “We are very sorry to announce that Bonnie has been admitted to hospital in Faro, Portugal, where she has a home, for emergency intestinal surgery.

“The surgery went well and she is now recuperating.

“We know that all of her family, friends and fans will be concerned about this news and will be wishing her well for a full and swift recovery.”

Following new reports yesterday her health had worsened, she was breathing with the aid of a ventilator after being put in an induced coma, and doctors were not sure how her condition would evolve, the spokesman said: “Bonnie has been put into an induced coma by her doctors to aid her recovery.

"We know that you all wish her well and ask for privacy at this difficult time please.

"We will issue a further statement when we are able to.”

Bonnie, who has had multiple Top Ten hits in her long career and competed at the Eurovision Song Contest representing the UK in 2013, is believed to have been rushed to hospital on April 30.

She was said to have been “stable” in an intermediate care unit at Faro Hospital before an apparent worsening of her health led to her being transferred to intensive care.

Sources said overnight she had been maintaining her professional activity in the run-up to her hospitalisation despite complaining of persistent pain for several weeks.

Wellwisher Sara Hadfield wrote on social media overnight: “My husband spent 10 days eight years ago in an induced coma in ICU in Faro Hospital.

“They cared for him very well. I hope they do the same for Bonnie.”

Jenny Edwards added: “Come on Bonnie girl. Us Welshies don’t give up. Here is to a full recovery.”

And Portuguese national Maria Joao Raposo Fonseca said: “Speedy recovery for Bonnie.

“She is such a lovely lady. I lived close to her in Albufeira and used to see her all the time at my hairdresser’s salon doing her tanning and then driving her little red convertible.”

A ruptured appendix is a severe medical emergency requiring immediate surgical intervention and antibiotics to prevent fatal infections.