Former Australian batsman Damien Martyn has recovered enough to leave the hospital after suffering a serious bout of meningitis. The 54-year-old shared with everyone that the whole illness made him feel just how fragile life is; after spending days in an induced coma, he came back.

Martyn fell sick on December 27, 2025, and was immediately admitted to the ICU. The doctors put him into an induced coma since the meningitis had affected the brain. First week of improvement came in early January. He is now fully discharged and carrying on with the recovery process.

Martyn posted a picture at the beach on X and wrote of his relief and joy that he could return home. He wrote:

“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."

Besides this, he also talked about how illness changed his views on life.

“This experience has reminded me of how fragile life is, how quickly everything can change & how precious time is!”

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Martyn then touched on how serious it had gotten and the position he found himself in:

"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."

He stated:

“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."

Martyn thanked family and friends in addition to the medical staff for incessant prayers, as well as many others who claimed to have supported him. He wrote:

“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.

He added:

“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."

Martyn played 67 Tests, 208 ODIs and 4 T20Is for Australia before retiring from international cricket.