Bhangra legend leaves Wolverhampton hospital after ‘miracle’ recovery

After 86 days Balwinder Safri has been discharged from Wolverhampton's New Cross Hospital after his family pleaded with doctors not to switch off his dialysis machine when he suffered kidney failure.

The 63-year-old was admitted on April 20 due concerns about his heart and two days later he underwent a planned triple bypass, but following surgery Mr Safri suffered complications and given further surgery.

He had been in a coma since and his distraught relatives were advised that he made not pull through.

Now three months later Mr Safri, a famous singer, has been discharged and he is continuing his recovery at a specialist rehabilitation centre.

His wife Nikki Davitt said: “It’s a miracle. There are no other words to describe it. There were so many times when we thought ‘this is it’.

" I remember a call from critical care one night and they asked me to come to the hospital as soon as I could as they didn’t think Safri was going to make it through the night, but he always pulled through.

“He is incredible – I always knew he was strong, he had a stroke back in 2000 and they thought he would struggle to walk again, however he pushed and pushed himself to walk around his hospital bed and went on to make a full recovery.”

After 27 days in critical care, Mr Safri, of Handsworth, was moved to a ward.

“They took his tube out and the neurosurgeon was trying to talk to him. He was saying ‘squeeze my hand if you can hear me,’ but Safri didn’t react. I asked the surgeon if they had anyone that could talk to Safri in Indian.

"He went and found a student nurse who could speak Punjabi, she said to him 'can you hear me Uncle?'

“I will never ever forget hearing Safri say ‘yes I can hear you’ – I was overcome with emotion,” she said.

With the help of the staff on Ward B8, and the support of his wife and stepdaughter Priya Kumari he continued to make progress.

Mr Safri, who has performed at many events in the Black Country including Diwali festivals was born in Punjab and has been part of the bhangra scene since 1980, setting up Birmingham's Safri Boyz Band in 1990.

A special send-off was organised for him at the hospital where staff lined the corridor to cheer him on his way. He was also greeted at the door fellow Safri Boyz member Bhupinder Kullar, known as Tubsy, who played a dhol drum as he left.

Tubsy said: “His recovery is amazing – he looks so much better than when I last saw him. To see his face light up when he saw the dhol drum was incredible. I can’t thank the staff enough for what they have done.”