Bonnie Tyler's close friend issues a health update and says 'it's not that good' as singer remains in hospital in Portugal in an induced coma

Bonnie Tyler's close friends say they are 'praying for better news' while the singer remains in an induced coma after going into cardiac arrest following life-saving surgery in Portugal.

The Welsh star, who owns a property on the Algarve, is currently in a critical condition at nearby Faro Hospital after being treated for emergency bowel surgery and a perforated intestine. 

And Tyler's long-term friend Liberto Mealha says the situation remains uncertain, with the singer being kept in an induced coma on an intensive care ward to 'aid her recovery.' 

'I could not see her because she's in intensive care but we are praying for better news,' he told The Mirror. 'The doctors are positive with the situation, but so far it's not that good.' 

It's understood that Tyler, 74, went into cardiac arrest after doctors attempted to bring her out of the precautionary coma last week. 

A spokesperson for the singer confirmed: 'Bonnie has been put into an induced coma by her doctors to aid her recovery. We know that you all wish her well and ask for privacy at this difficult time please. 

'We will issue a further statement when we are able to.'

Mealha first met The Total Eclipse of the Heart singer when he opened a well-known Albufeira nightclub in the 1980s, close to her holiday home.

He said last week: 'She started feeling unwell during a concert in London and went to a doctor for tests, but they didn't detect anything there.

'She decided to travel to the Algarve, where she began to feel severe abdominal pain.

'Two days later, she went to a private hospital, which urgently transferred her to the hospital in Faro because her appendix had burst and she needed emergency surgery.'

It was reported that Tyler started feeling unwell around a month ago, had been bedridden for two days at her Algarve home before her worried husband Robert Sullivan took her to the private hospital she was seen at before being transferred to Faro.

The singer, who has had multiple hits in her long career and competed at the Eurovision Song Contest representing the UK in 2013, is believed to have been rushed to hospital on April 30. 

A day earlier, when her health woes first emerged, the spokesman had said: 'We are very sorry to announce that Bonnie has been admitted to hospital in Faro, Portugal, where she has a home, for emergency intestinal surgery.

'The surgery went well and she is now recuperating.

'We know that all of her family, friends and fans will be concerned about this news and will be wishing her well for a full and swift recovery.'

She was said to have been 'stable' in an intermediate care unit at Faro Hospital before an apparent worsening of her health led to her being transferred to intensive care.

Sources say she had been maintaining her professional activity in the run-up to being taken to hospital, despite complaining of persistent pain for several weeks.

Her representatives have not yet commented on reports that she had to be resuscitated.

Cardiac arrest is a medical emergency in which the heart suddenly and unexpectedly stops pumping blood, causing it to stop beating and disrupting oxygen flow to the body and brain.

It causes instant unconsciousness and collapse. Immediate action involving starting CPR and using a defibrillator where available is essential to prevent death.

A ruptured appendix is a severe medical emergency requiring immediate surgical intervention and antibiotics to prevent fatal infections.

When an infected appendix ruptures, it creates a hole and causes fecal matter and bacteria to leak into the abdominal cavity.

Mealha, whose daughter is Tyler's goddaughter, said last week the singer's husband was spending his days by her hospital bedside and only leaving to sleep at home at nighttime.

He added: 'He's very grateful to the doctors and nurses at the Faro hospital and believes that if Bonnie had stayed in the United Kingdom she would no longer be here.'