Tyson Fury has explained how his life was "turned upside down" when he learned his mother needed a life-saving operation just days before his last fight with Derek Chisora.
The world heavyweight champion was in camp preparing for his trilogy bout with Chisora when he received a phone call to let him know that his mum, who lives a very private life, was in hospital. She had suffered multiple strokes related to a blood clot and needed emergency surgery to stand a chance at staying alive.
He rushed to hospital to see her, where he was told the severity of the situation and the risk that his mum was facing. Even with the operation, she was only given a chance at survival and he had to head into his final preparations with his mother's condition hidden behind his usual pre-fight trash-talking.
"Your life can be turned upside down with one phone call," Fury told IFL TV. "I had a phone call the other day while I was in training camp for Chisora. 'We didn't want to tell you but we figured you should know, your mother's had multiple strokes, she's been in hospital for 10 days and she's having a massive operation where there's a 5/1 chance where she could die'.
"They asked if I want to come and see her before she goes in, I'm a week away from my fight, one week! So I'm like, 'what, why haven't you f***ing told me?' Rushed down to the hospital speak to the doctor, she's got a blood clot in her throat and she's had multiple strokes. She lost the use of her arms and legs on one side.
"Doctor said 'we've got to do an emergency operation to remove a blood clot, put a stint in, blood pressure's through the roof, cholesterol is through the roof, heart rate through the roof'. If she don't have the operation? Brown bread. Do have it? Chance that you could die anyway."
Luckily, Fury's mother came through the surgery well, and she is now on the mend at home. But he has used the story as a warning to fans watching that they should appreciate their life and the people in while they are around, as opposed to wasting time on other concerns.
"That's the phone call that I'm talking about," he continued. "You're only one phone call away from a disaster, so I'm thankful that she came through, she had the operation she's all good and on the recovery back at home. It's been a wake-up call for her, 60-years-old she needs to be doing more health checks and stuff and look after herself a bit more if she wants to get another ten years out.
"Life can change very quickly, everything can go to f*** quite quickly as well. One of your family members, one of your friends, anything [could happen]. You could get diagnosed with a disease, fall over and snap your neck, whatever, there's so many things. Life is like snakes and ladders, take three steps forward and four back."
