Wayne Lineker has revealed he has been left “unable to walk” due to an “extremely dangerous” bout of pneumonia, which he is recovering from in hospital.
The 63-year-old owner of O Beach, Ibiza, said he was rushed to the hospital after falling ill on a flight two weeks prior.
The beach club owner initially believed he had Covid and then suffered a heart attack. However he was later informed by doctors that it was pneumonia.
Wayne said he is receiving treatment but cannot walk and must undergo months of intense rehabilitation and physiotherapy.
Pneumonia is a chest infection that affects the lungs’ air sacs. These sacs become inflamed with the condition and fill with fluid, making it hard for the sufferer to breathe.
On Instagram, Wayne wrote: “Hello, my beautiful friends... I did not want to announce this because I know how much love I would receive and I always feel extremely guilty not being able to reply to everyone.”
“So two weeks ago I caught a flight from Mauritius to Dubai as I needed to be there for the one year anniversary party. While I was on that flight, I believe I caught a very bad infection”.
“What I thought at the time was Covid, it completely knocked me out and I just wanted to get home. I flew home on the Friday and went straight home and rested. 3am in the morning i woke from my bed and could not walk at that time”.
He said: “I thought I was having a heart attack so called my daughter Tia and she was in great despair and called her mum who came round to my house and me in an ambulance to the hospital where I was diagnosed with chronic pneumonia and admitted to intensive care where I spent 10 days”.
“Now have been moved to a respiratory ward it's only now that I feel confident enough in my recovery that I can let everyone know I have been speaking and having visits from my family and close friends”.
He explained: “But catching pneumonia at my age is extremely dangers. I am still in hospital but out of the danger zone and intensive care. I still cannot walk at all and have around two months rehabilitation and physio ahead of me”.
Wayne’s brother, England football legend and TV presenter Gary Lineker, is set to move to Netflix with “an extraordinarily lucrative” which will see him feature on a livestream of next year’s World Cup from the US.
The former striker for England will host the platform’s The Rest Is Football podcast since leaving the BBC in may. This came after he controversially posted to social media criticising Zionism using the image of a rat, which has historically been used as a symbol of antisemitism.
The 65-year-old was due to lead the BBC’s coverage of the World Cup as his final hurrah after 25 years at the company, but was taken off the project when he shared the post.
The podcast was previously hosted on BBC Sounds, but since leaving the company, it hasn’t had a platform.
It is not currently known whether Gary’s co-stars, Alan Shearer and Micah Richards, will join him on the show, but they may be in the US with the BBC as pundits for the tournament.
A source told the Daily Mail: “The Rest is Football is currently available to watch on YouTube, but it has not been affiliated to any other network or broadcaster.
“This is all new for Netflix, and it is being described as an exciting a new thing amongst the bosses there.
“It will mean that Gary gets a huge payday. It is an extremely popular show, but when he left the BBC, he took it with him.
“This will mean that its profile will catapult again, as well as meaning that Gary will go to the World Cup after all, just in a very different capacity.”
Gary Lineker retired from football in 2000 before embarking on his career at Match of the Day.
Since leaving the BBC, it has been revealed that he will run an ITV quiz show called The Box, which invites celebrity contestants to unknown locations to partake in various games.
Sharing the news of his departure from the BBC in May, Gary said he did not notice the rat in the video and “would never consciously repost anything antisemitic”.
He said: “However, I recognise the error and upset that I caused and reiterate how sorry I am. Stepping back now feels like the responsible course of action.”
Listener figures to his podcast are unknown, but in July, The Rest is Football had attracted more than 8million YouTube viewers alone.
