Bert Newton, 82, is pictured for the first time since having his leg amputated

Entertainment legend Bert Newton, 82, is pictured for the first time since having his leg amputated in a ‘life of death decision’

Bert Newton has been seen for the first time since having his leg amputated in a life-saving operation on Saturday.

On Wednesday, the 82-year-old’s wife Patti Newton shared a photo to Instagram of Bert smiling with his youngest grandchild Alby while lying in a hospital bed.

‘Thank you everyone for your prayers and beautiful words,’ she captioned the photo. 

Entertainment legend Bert Newton, 82, has been pictured for the first time since having his leg amputated in a ‘life of death decision’

Bert consented to the amputation after spending six weeks at Melbourne’s Epworth Hospital, where his condition had been steadily worsening.

Bert’s wife of 47 years, Patti, told The Daily Telegraph she had ‘never seen anybody in more pain’ than her husband on the morning of his operation.

She added: ‘I just felt he could not go through pain like he was going through for much longer.’

Bert went into surgery at 7.50am on Saturday and Patti learned it had been a success at 3pm. ‘It was a long day and a long wait,’ she said.

Patt also spoke of her husband’s fighting spirit, saying the grandfather of six agreed to the life-changing surgery because ‘he has so much to live for’.

‘This is not a death sentence,’ she said, adding: ‘He is lucky; he’s got family all around him. The grandkids mean the world to him.’

Bert’s toe became infected before Christmas.

The infection was ‘linked to his diabetes’ and was threatening his life, A Current Affair‘s Seb Costello reported on Monday night.

The Good Morning Australia host, who has battled ill health for years and spent the past six weeks in hospital, was told the surgery was a ‘life or death decision’, entertainment journalist Peter Ford first reported on 3AW Breakfast on Monday.

Mr Ford, who had been in contact with the Newton family, said the infection kept getting worse and spreading, leaving doctors no choice but to amputate.

Doctors reportedly told Bert last week that amputating the leg would save his life, but keeping the leg would mean he’d have just ‘months to live’.

He consented to the surgery on Saturday, Mr Ford said.

‘[The infection] got worse… he was seeing doctors and specialists and they couldn’t seem to get it right; it kept on spreading,’ Mr Ford explained.

‘Basically he was told last week, “You have a couple of months to live, or if you have your leg amputated, you’ll probably have a few years.” So he agreed to have the leg amputated on Saturday.’

Mr Ford said Bert and Patti were preparing for a major adjustment once he gets home from hospital.

‘It’s a big decision for anyone to make [to amputate], but it’s also a practical thing, because they live in a two-storey place with the bedrooms and the bathrooms upstairs, so they’re now having to convert the house downstairs because Patti doesn’t want him to go into a nursing home,’ he said.

However, the Newtons are said to be staying positive and don’t want the public to think of Bert’s amputation as a ‘sad’ story.

Mr Ford said: ‘They [the Newton family] said, “We had a choice. Other people don’t have a choice. Bert wants to keep on living, because he adores Patti, his children and his grandkids, and he wants to have as much time as he can with them.”‘

A spokesperson for the Newtons declined to comment, but did confirm the reports about Bert’s leg amputation were correct.