NEW DELHI: Former Australian batter Damien Martyn returned home from hospital on Saturday after recovering from what he described as an “awful” bout of meningitis, an experience he said made him realise “how fragile life is.”
Martyn fell seriously ill on December 27, 2025 and was placed in an induced coma in the intensive care unit. He began showing signs of recovery in the first week of January.
The difficult chapter has now come to an end.
This post is A BIG thank you to ALL my family, friends and so many other people who have reached out to me!
— Damien Martyn🏏 (@damienmartyn) January 17, 2026
On the 27th of December 2025 my life was taken out of my hands…when meningitis took over my brain, & unbeknownst to me I was placed into a paralysed coma for 8 days to… pic.twitter.com/3Mt3DS6MZY
"Bring on 2026 …I'm back! 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 wrote in an emotional message on his X account, along with a photo of himself standing on a beach.
Martyn said the traumatic experience gave him a renewed perspective on life.
"This experience has reminded me of how fragile life is, how quickly everything can change & how precious time is!"
The 54-year-old former World Cup winner also reflected in detail on his battle with the illness.
"On the 27th of December 2025 my life was taken out of my hands…when meningitis took over my brain, & unbeknownst to me I was placed into a paralysed coma for 8 days to help me fight this awful disease. And that I did! Fight that is!…. After being given a 50/50 chance of surviving, I came out of the induced coma 8 days later…not able to walk or talk.
"And yet 4 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," he stated.
Martyn, who represented Australia in 67 Tests, 208 ODIs and four T20Is, expressed gratitude to everyone who supported him during the toughest days.
"This post is A BIG thank you to ALL my family, friends and so many other people who have reached out to me! There are so many wonderful people in this world … from paramedics (at Mermaid Waters Ambulance), doctors & 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 3 weeks, or they reached out to me through messages of love and support," he wrote.
