Damien Martyn opens up on his nightmare battle and ‘50/50 chance of surviving’

1 month ago 4

Former Australian cricketer Damien Martyn is walking, talking and posting on social media, about three weeks since he was hospitalised and in an induced coma with meningitis.

Martyn took to social media on Saturday afternoon to thank everyone who supported him through his ordeal, which he said left him with a “50/50” chance of survival.

The 54-year-old was admitted to Gold Coast University Hospital on December 27 and was in an induced coma for eight days as he battled for his life.

“After being given a 50/50 chance of surviving, I came out of the induced coma eight days later…not able to walk or talk,” Martyn wrote on X.

Damien Martyn raises his bat for an Ashes century in Birmingham in 2001.

“And yet four days after that, with the doctors in disbelief, I walked, I talked and proved to them all why I should be released from hospital to start my recovery.

“So happy to be home, to be able to put my feet in the sand on the beach and to start thanking all those people that reached out to me and my family in their unwavering support.”

Martyn received a huge amount of support on social media and in other public channels from many in the cricket community including good friend Adam Gilchrist, Indian champion VVS Laxman, and Ashes-winning England captain Michael Vaughan.

“This experience has reminded me of how fragile life is, how quickly everything can change and how precious time is,” Martyn wrote.

Martyn (left) in his Test-playing days alongside his WA and Australian teammates Adam Gilchrist and Justin Langer.

“There are so many wonderful people in this world … from paramedics [at Mermaid Waters Ambulance], doctors and nurses [at Gold Coast University Hospital] … to family, friends and people I didn’t even know.

“I feel like I met all these fantastic people in the past three weeks, or they reached out to me through messages of love and support.”

The former Australian and West Australian cricketer will continue his recovery at home and ended his message with “bring on 2026, I’m back”.

Regarded as one of Australia’s most gifted strokemakers, Martyn scored 4406 Test runs at an average of 46.37. He debuted as a 21-year-old against the West Indies in 1992 and retired after the second Test of the 2006-07 Ashes series in Adelaide.

He was the player of the series the last time Australia won an away series in India, top-scoring in four of Australia’s eight innings at the crease in the 2004 battle for the Border-Gavaskar Trophy.

Martyn scored an unbeaten 88 off 84 balls in Australia’s 2003 ODI World Cup final triumph, batting with a broken finger in a match-winning partnership with captain Ricky Ponting. He played 208 one-day internationals and scored 5346 runs at 40.09. He was a regular in one of history’s most dominant limited-overs teams.

Since retiring, Martyn has held various commentary positions and maintained a social media presence, posting on X as recently as December 24 about the Boxing Day Test.

With Dan Walsh