Sir Geoffrey Boycott says wife’s quick thinking saved his life during health scare

Boycott was rushed to hospital with pneumonia as he recuperated from throat surgery

Sir Geoffrey Boycott contracted pneumonia during his recovery from throat surgery (PA Archive)

Sir Geoffrey Boycott credits the actions of his wife Rachael for saving his life after he was hospitalised with pneumonia.

The 83-year-old England great insists he is “lucky to be alive” following a rapid deterioration in his health last month as he battles throat cancer for the second time.

“I am still here because of the quick thinking of my wife Rachael,” Boycott said in his column in The Telegraph. “She recognised I had taken a turn for the worse in my recovery from surgery for throat cancer.

“I was recuperating at home from the operation and felt pretty good at first but overnight I became delirious, was not talking properly and looked awful.

“We had a pulse oximeter at home which she put on my finger and it recorded my blood oxygen level at 35 per cent.

“That is when she knew there was a major problem and called an ambulance. I was rushed back in, put on oxygen and diagnosed with pneumonia.

“It has knocked the hell out of me and if Rachael had not acted so quickly I am pretty sure I would not have made it through the night. She saved my life, no doubt about that.”

Sir Geoffrey Boycott credits his wife with saving his life (PA Archive)

Boycott left Wythenshawe Hospital on Thursday night and must now “get stronger over the coming weeks”.

He revealed last month he had received a second cancer diagnosis after he underwent extensive chemotherapy 22 years ago. He also had quadruple heart bypass surgery in 2018, which he said was a factor in his decision to step away from commentating, as well as the coronavirus pandemic.

The former Yorkshire and England batter scored 8,114 runs in 108 Tests for his country, including 22 centuries, at an average of 47.72 and amassed 48,426 first-class runs across two decades.

When his international career ended he was the leading Test run scorer and was awarded an Order of the British Empire (OBE) for services to cricket.

He spent decades working on the BBC’s Test Match Special after retiring as a player in 1986 before stepping down from his pundit role in 2020.