subject: Gravely Ill Zsa Zsa Gabor Has Leg Amputated [print this page] The 93-year-old Hungarian-born actress broke her hip after she fell at her Beverly Hills home in July, and has since been in and out of the hospital for complications from hip surgery performed after the injury.
She asked for a priest to read her last rites in August.
Gabors leg got infected
The aging star was rushed to Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center in Los Angeles on Sunday, Jan. 2, after doctors found that cancerous lesions started appearing on Gabor's right leg that they worried could cost her life.
They then advised Gabor's husband Prince Van Von Anhalt to get the ailing actress hospitalized and undergo surgery to have part of her right leg amputated because gangrene was starting to set in.
Gabor undergoes above-the-knee amputation
Gabor was being treated at the Los Angeles hospital for a very deep, 12-inch long lesion on her lower leg that antibiotics were unable to cure, according to People.com.
On Friday, Gabor had most of her right leg, which was infected with gangrene, successfully amputated in an operation that doctors said was necessary to save her life, her publicist told the magazine.
Gabor doing well post-surgery
Prince Van Von Anhalt told AFP that Gabor is doing well post-surgery. "She would have died in a very short time because the infection was moving."
"She's doing fine. She's in the recovery room, She opened her eyes (and) looked at me, and there was a little smile. She's OK," he added.
Also, David Rigberg, associate professor of vascular surgery at Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center spoke with AFP about the ailing stars health condition.
"Ms. Gabor needed an amputation above her knee due to poor circulation and a large ulcerated area on her right leg," said Rigberg.
"After consulting with her husband, Frederic Prinz von Anhalt, we felt this was the best medical course of action. The surgery today went well, however, she is in frail health so we will continue to monitor her closely."
Gabors health woes
The Budapest-born, film star and TV favorite Gabors health has been touch and go since she broke her hip in July.
On July 17, 2010, Gabor, who is partially paralyzed after a 2002 car wreck and pretty much confined to a wheelchair, was rushed to the hospital after falling out of bed to answer the phone at her home in Los Angeles' Bel-Air neighborhood.
Gabors heath deteriorated following a surgery to repair a broken hip.
The platinum blonde beauty was given last rites at the hospital Aug. 15 and was brought home to her Bel Air Road mansion the following day after she refused to undergo a liver operation and decided to spend her final days at her home.
About Zsa Zsa Gabor
Born as Sri Gbor, the stunning blond was one of the most notorious party girls of Hollywood in her heydays.
The Hollywood icon is the last of the three Hungarian-born sisters who were on the Hollywood A-list in the 1950s.
Her film credits include 'Queen of Outer Space' (1958), 'Moulin Rouge' (the 1951 version, not Nicole Kidman's 2001 version), and a small role as a nightclub manager in the 'Orson Welles classic Touch of Evil' (1959). In her last role she appeared in a cameo in 'A very Brady Sequel' in 1996.
In addition to numerous Hollywood films, Gabor appeared in several television shows. She regularly appeared on talk show 'The Merv Griffin Show' during the 1960s and 1970s.
Gabor has to use a wheelchair after being partially paralyzed in a 2002 car accident. She also suffered a stroke five years ago.
Gabor married multiple times
The American actress/socialite and beauty queen is also well known for her string of marriages. Gabor has been married nine times. She was divorced seven times, and one marriage was annulled.
Her husbands are: Burhan Asaf Belge (19371941; divorced); Conrad Hilton (April 10, 19421947; divorced); George Sanders (April 2, 1949 April 2, 1954; divorced); Herbert Hutner (November 5, 1962 March 3, 1966; divorced); Joshua S. Cosden, Jr. (March 9, 1966 October 18, 1967; divorced); Jack Ryan (January 21, 1975 August 24, 1976; divorced); Michael O'Hara (August 27, 19761983; divorced); Felipe de Alba (April 13, 1983 April 14, 1983; annulled) and Frdric Prinz von Anhalt (August 14, 1986 to present).
Gabor married von Anhalt in 1986. It is her longest marriage to date.
