LONDON. – Boxing great Frank Bruno has revealed how a health scare last year left him unable to remember that he WON A WORLD HEAVYWEIGHT TITLE.
The legend, now 64, who defeated American Oliver McCall to claim the WBC title in 1995, also forgot ever fighting arch rival Mike Tyson – or even how many children he had.
Dad-of-four Bruno became muddled aboard a flight to the Far East and had to be sedated and taken to hospital in Qatar.
When he awoke, he believed his personal assistant, at his bedside, was footie legend Paul Gascoigne.
Telling The Sun on Sunday about his descent into mental hell, Bruno said:
“I’ve been to a very, very dark place. For a long time, parts of my life just vanished from my mind. I feel lucky to be alive.”
Bruno, whose career peaked with that world title triumph at Wembley, has battled bipolar disorder since he retired in 1996 following his last fight – against long-time US world champ Tyson, who he twice faced, and lost to, in the ring.
He has been sectioned four times since 2003 and has spoken bravely of his troubles. But the ring ace’s life hit a new low last year.
We exclusively revealed how Bruno fell ill on a flight in March – and now the star says he owes his life to – personal assistant Paul Hunter, who was with him on the trip.
Writing in new memoir Bruno: Still Fighting, he says: “The strangest part of my sickness was what it had done to my memory.
“Not only did I have no awareness of what I was – living through at the time, but my long-term memory had been wiped. I didn’t know who I was, where I lived, or even how many children I had.
“Whole chapters of my life had – disappeared. It was as though I’d closed my eyes on that flight and opened them to find my past erased.
“I’d look at Paul and tell him he was someone else from my life. One minute he was my old manager, Terry Lawless. The next he was my former trainer, George Francis. At one point I even claimed he was my old pal Paul Gascoigne.
“I’d lie in hospital insisting I was 25, telling everyone I hadn’t won the world title.
“I was saying I needed to get back into training because I had a fight with Mike Tyson coming up.”
Recalling his ordeal on the flight again, he writes:
“A couple of hours into the journey, the TV in front of me suddenly looked too bright, the cabin lights smeared across my vision and I closed my eyes thinking I was about to fall asleep. I had no idea my world was about to cave in.
“I’ve since been told how my temperature was rising, my oxygen levels dropping and my speech became slurred.
“Apparently, I kept shifting in my seat, looking uncomfortable. I started complaining I was freezing.
“The cabin crew brought me a blanket and I wrapped myself in it and managed to doze off.
“But within minutes I was awake, shivering, and saying I needed to be on my toes and to keep moving to stay warm.
“As we prepared to touch down in Doha, the crew told me: ‘Mr Bruno, please sit down.’ Instead, I carried on pacing backward and forward, with no idea where I was. I bolted myself in the loo. They landed the aircraft with me in there.
“I remember virtually nothing of the weeks that followed. What I know, I’ve pieced together from Paul and the doctors. They quite possibly saved my life.”
Paramedics and police were waiting as the plane landed in Doha, where Frank had been due to catch an onward flight to Thailand.
As passengers disembarked, he was put in a wheelchair and taken to an airport medical centre. – SunClub
