Robin Gibb's first food since coma: Ice cream

Robin Gibb. Photo / Supplied

Robin Gibb asked for ice cream when he woke from his coma.

The ailing Bee Gees singer lost consciousness for 12 days after contracting pneumonia shortly after battling cancer and when he awoke, he admitted he was suffering from back pain but also requested his favourite foods.

His wife Dwina said: "Words are inadequate to describe how happy and exhilarated I felt [when he woke]. 'Hello, sweetheart', I said and have him a big kiss and a hug. Robin hen looked over at our son and mouthed, 'Hi RJ. My back hurts'.

"He'd been lying flat for 12 days so we called a nurse to move him into a more comfortable position. Then he pulled out his feeding tube and asked for a bowl of ice cream."

Robin's family tried to rouse the star from his coma by playing him music and Dwina revealed it was the star's favourite song from his new Titanic Requiem album that made them realise he was aware of what he was hearing.

She explained to Britain's HELLO! magazine: "One of our favourite tracks, Distress, came on. It's a rousing emotive mass sung in Latin and as we played it, his EEG machine, which measures electrical activity in the brain, went mad.

"For us, this was a sure sign that he was responding. So I lifted up one of his headphones and asked, 'Robin, can you hear the music?'

"That's when his eyelids flickers and he looked at me. I couldn't believe it."

Doctors were also shocked when Robin awoke as they had warned his family to expect the worst.

Dwina said: "The doctors were astounded. They kept shaking their heads in disbelief. They'd tried everything in their power to bring Robin back and when it didn't work their prognosis was bleak.

"They didn't think he was going to make it and warned us to prepare for the worst."

- Bang! Showbiz