Amitabh Bachchan's five serious hospitalisations pre-COVID; nation prayed, he recovered

The news of Amitabh Bachchan and Abhishek Bachchan having been tested corona positive has sent shockwaves across the nation. Both Amitabh and Abhishek took to Twitter to break the news of their health and ever since then their fans and well-wishers have gone berserk. However, this is not the first time when the Shehenshah of Bollywood has battled a deadly disease and defeated it. Each time the legend fell gravely ill, apart from the doctors and his family; the whole nation too united and prayed for his recovery. It wasn't just destiny that shielded Big B, but the nation's immense love and adulation for him too, that gave him the courage to stand tall after a heavy fall.

Coolie accident: One of the worst and most talked about accidents on the film sets to have ever happened was the one during the shoot of Coolie. Puneet Issar was to punch Amitabh Bachchan in the sequence, who in turn, had to fall backward. However, it was the slight misjudgment of time and space that made Bachchan Sr land at the edge of the table which pierced his intestines. The actor fought hard for his life and underwent several emergency operations. However, it was at one point that the actor was declared 'clinically dead'.

Talking about the accident, Bachchan had told Simi Garewal, "I was in comma. I had ruptured my intestine at the accident on the set. And then there was the surgery which was conducted almost as an emergency. We went to Bombay 5 days later, the sutures ruptured, and I had to have another surgery. It was end of that surgery where I couldn't come out of anaesthesia for 12-14 hours. That's when they felt it's all over because there was hardly any pulse, BP was down to almost zero."

Hepatitis B and Liver ailment: The Coolie incident not only damaged Bachchan's intestines but also his liver. The actor contracted Hepatitis B Virus while he was receiving numerous blood infusions post his abdominal surgery. "I keep quoting my personal example all the time and try and propagate the idea of getting yourself detected. I don't mind saying this publicly. I am a tuberculosis survivor, Hepatitis B survivor... Bad blood infusion went in and 75 per cent of my liver is gone but because I was able to detect it, even after a period of 20 years when 75 per cent of my liver is gone, I am still surviving on 25 per cent," the Gulabo Sitabo actor had once told IANS.

Tuberclosis: Another major health risk that Amitabh Bachchan battled was Tuberculosis. Insisting on the importance of getting oneself checked and tested at regular intervals and to not take one's health lightly, Bachchan had once said, "There is a cure. Even with tuberculosis. I did not know for almost 8 years I was suffering from tuberculosis. I keep saying with immodesty that if it can happen to me, (it can happen) to anyone. Therefore, if you are not willing to get yourself tested, then you would never find out and there's never going to be a cure for it."

Abdominal surgery and recurring pain: Ever since that infamous Coolie incident, Big B has had a history of abdominal ailments. In 2012 too, Amitabh Bachchan had taken to social media to reveal that two months after undergoing abdominal surgery, he suffered excruciating pain at the exact same spot and couldn't move. Big B had written in his blog, "I rose from my desk to get to bed, but excruciating pain stopped me in my tracks and I found it difficult to walk to stand to sit to lie down. Quite horrendous! This was not there post operation even... so what really is the reason for it two months down the line? I have no answer. But tomorrow [Tuesday] there should be one as I prepare for a CT Scan, after devouring a large bottle or bottles of that yellow fluid, that shall line the internal organs so the scan can pick up any region that could be infected or being the cause for the pain." Within a few days, the megastar had again informed all his well-wishers and fans that things were under control.

Chest infection: Last year in 2019, within three days of celebrating his birthday, Amitabh Bachchan had been rushed to a hospital over serious chest infection. Bachchan Sr had also shared pictures from the hospital revealing that he was on bed rest and the doctors had asked him to take complete bedrest. Not just that, he himself had added that his body was giving him signs to slow down and take rest.