'A miracle': Damien Martyn wakes from coma after meningitis scare, Adam Gilchrist confirms he can talk

Former Australian cricketer Damien Martyn has emerged from an induced coma following a serious bout of meningitis, with former teammate and close friend Adam Gilchrist describing the turnaround as nothing short of “a miracle”.

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The 54-year-old former batter, who played 67 Tests and 208 one-day internationals for Australia, fell critically ill late last month and was rushed to hospital on the Gold Coast, where he was diagnosed with meningitis — a potentially life-threatening inflammation of the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.




Gilchrist confirmed on Sunday that Martyn has now woken from the coma and is responding strongly to treatment.

“It’s been an unbelievable turn of events in the last 48 hours,” Gilchrist said. “He is now able to talk and respond to treatment. He has responded extraordinarily well since coming out of the coma to the point where his family feels it’s like some sort of miracle.”

According to Gilchrist, Martyn’s condition has improved so rapidly that doctors are hopeful he can soon be moved out of the intensive care unit at Gold Coast University Hospital.


“It has been so positive that they’re hopeful he will be able to move out of the ICU into another part of the hospital, which is representative of what a great recovery it’s been and how quickly it has flipped around,” he said. “He’s in good spirits and overwhelmed by the support. There is still some treatment and monitoring to go, but it’s looking positive.”

Gilchrist also shared a message from Martyn’s wife Amanda, crediting the outpouring of support from across the cricketing world for aiding his recovery. “She really wants to say to everyone that she is convinced the love, goodwill and sense of care — through messages and media coverage — really helped him,” he said.

Born in Darwin, Martyn made his Test debut at 21 during the 1992–93 series against the West Indies. Renowned as one of the game’s finest strokemakers, he became a key figure in Steve Waugh’s dominant Australian side, scoring 13 Test centuries at an average of 46.37.

He was part of Australia’s World Cup-winning teams in 1999 and 2003. Martyn retired during the 2006–07 Ashes series and has largely stayed out of the public eye since.