British singer-songwriter Hazel O’Connor is recovering in hospital following a “serious medical event,” her family have said.
The musician and actress, 66, known for 1980s hits such as Will You? and Eighth Day, was placed into an induced coma for 24 hours after suffering bleeding on the brain.
Her brother Neil O’Connor said she was receiving “the best of care” and had already regained some of her “usual feistiness”.
Writing on social media Mr O’Connor said: “On Sunday last, 9/01/2022, Hazel was discovered at her place in SW France and was found to have suffered a serious medical event.
📷 This is an important announcement about my darling sister, Singer, Songwriter and Actor, Hazel O’Connor. On Sunday last, 9/01/2022, Hazel was discovered at her place in SW France and was found to have suffered a serious medical event She… https://t.co/Z14UOX4zSy
— Hazel O'Connor (@Hazel_OConnor) January 17, 2022
“She was taken to her local hospital where it was determined that she’d had a bleeding on the brain and that she should be transferred to a major hospital where her condition could be more effectively monitored.
“On Sunday things were touch and go and the next 24 hours would determine how her recovery may go.
“She was put into an induced coma for about 24 hrs and brought out of it Monday evening and since then has been showing a lot of progress although, saying that, her recovery is going to take a while but she is tough and is responding to stimuli and to treatment.
“She’s receiving the best of care and I thank the French medical service there for taking such good care of her.
“So, please, all positive thoughts, vibes, intentions are appreciated.
“She’s going to need patience from us and from herself, I’ve already learned that she’s started to show her usual feistiness”.
Ms O’Connor’s 2022 tour, due to begin later this year, has been postponed, with replacement dates yet to be announced.
Her management team described the singer as “a fighter” and the situation would be kept under review.
“We have had to give extremely serious thought to Hazel’s activities in the short, medium and long term,” they said in an online post.
“We have decided that all shows up to the Electric Ladies tour in June are postponed without replacement dates, at the moment.
“These are early days and we hope you can bear with us and hold onto tickets until we can reschedule. Hopefully all the venues will work with us on this basis.
“No one knows what progress Hazel will make or when.
“You could be thinking, Hazel should not be doing any shows in the foreseeable future, well, yes, that could be the outcome, we just don’t know.
“We know Hazel is a fighter and we think she would like to know there are live shows coming up as something to work towards.”