Liam Payne suffered health issues ever since he was born, with the former One Direction singer being hospitalised for a severe kidney infection when he was on vacation last year
Liam Payne tragically died aged 31 while on holiday with his girlfriend Kate Cassidy.
The local police said in a statement that his fall resulted in “extremely serious injuries.” Doctors confirmed his death on the spot, the statement said. The late hitmaker was holidaying with his girlfriend, who recently returned back to her hometown in America. The dad-of-one had been entertaining fans on his Snapchat just hours before his passing.
Fans and celebrity pals have paid tribute to the late singer, with Rylan Clark and Paris Hilton sharing their heartbreak over the news. Liam previously suffered from a health issue last year during his holiday to Lake Como with Kate after he postponed his South American tour.
The month before saw him explain his highly anticipated concerts would be rescheduled, after being advised by doctors to take sick leave following a serious kidney infection. “It’s with a heavy heart I have to tell you that we have no other choice but to postpone my upcoming tour of South America,” he wrote at the time. “It’s something I wouldn’t wish on anyone, and doctors orders are that I now need to rest and recover.”
It was understood that the One Direction star was treated at a hospital in Italy, where he remained for a few days, after being rushed to the medical facility in ‘agony’ with a ‘serious health issue’.
A source previously claimed to The Sun: “Liam is in a bad way but he’s in the best place he can be and finally doctors will be able to get to the bottom of what is going on. Naturally he is gutted that his and Kate’s trip to Lake Como has been ruined but at least she was there to help him when he fell ill. Doctors have warned him not to expect to be signed off to go home for at least another six days.”
Liam was no stranger to health woes, having battled bouts of severe illness ever since he was a small baby. After being born prematurely in 1993, he regularly fell sick and spent a significant amount of time in hospital. Doctors soon noticed one of his kidneys was scarred, which resulted in him undergoing sixteen injections in his arm every morning and night.
“I effectively died as a baby,” he revealed in 2011. “I was born three weeks early and I kept being ill. From the age of zero to four I was always in hospital having tests done but they couldn’t find out what was wrong.” Liam’s health issues eased up as he got older, and he even fell in love with athletics after joining cross country in school. His passion for sport, coupled with his history of health issues, was a motivator for him. “I have to be careful not to drink too much, even water, and I have to keep myself as healthy as possible.”
In January 2022, the former X Factor star postponed his Here’s to the Future virtual showcase, after testing positive for COVID-19. In May 2021, he revealed he was suffering from a mystery respiratory illness, telling fans he’s been “coughing” and “very poorly” for the past few weeks. “I feel sorry for anybody else out there who is also sick at the moment. But as the good old British people say, ‘It is going around,” he added.
And in July 2023, Liam said he had completed 100 days in a Louisiana rehab after hitting ‘rock bottom’ and admitting was was in ‘bad shape’. During his three month long stay at the centre, he had minimal contact with the outside world and spent a lot of time of focusing on art and poetry.
“Turning the phone back on was a little bit scary,” he told fans in a video. “I’ve been trying to learn to get to know this new guy…” He also addressed the controversial comments he made on YouTube star Logan Paul’s Impaulsive podcast, expressing remorse for how he spoke about his former bandmates. “I took shots at everybody else… came across as really big headed. I want to apologise for that…that’s definitely not me,” he explained at the time.
Liam also gave a shout-out to his fellow One Direction members, revealing that they “have really stood by” him throughout this difficult period of his life. “There is a point when you hit rock bottom and you realise you have got to do something different as whatever you are doing right now isn’t working for you,” he said. “I was in bad shape up until that point.”
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