Tina Arena has given a firsthand account of a medical issue that led her to cancel a dozen shows.
It is the first time the singer has opened up about the incident during which she was forced to fight for her life.
"I wasn't feeling amazing," Arena told ABC News.
"But anyway, I'm kind of one of these people that keeps going, right? I'll just work through it."
The ARIA Hall of Fame inductee and Member of the Order of Australia recipient was booked to perform in the United States, Europe and Australia in October 2023.
But everything came to a halt when she developed kidney stones and contracted septicaemia, a life-threatening bloodstream infection.
"I wake up … in ICU and I have this team of doctors around me," she said.
"I said, 'Guys, I'm on the road in 10 days. How are we tracking?' And they're all laughing at me … They go, 'You're not going anywhere.'"
Arena says, but for the blood transfusion she received, she may not be around today sharing her love of music.
So, to honour blood donors, Arena has teamed up with singer-songwriter Ngaiire, who has her own stories to tell about recovering from illnesses.
They have called the track the Unlikely Version, collaborating with artists and band members whose lives have been saved by blood, plasma, stem cells or platelet donations.
"People are familiar with Sia's version," Arena said.
"So, what was important for me to highlight with that song was I wanted to strip it right back, darling.
"I wanted to get to the essence of what [the song] was about … I wasn't interested in reinterpreting something as magical as Sia's version.
"I thought, 'OK, here's a beautiful piece of work. What can we bring to it?'"
Arena, who will get back out on the road in October when she tours France, with plans to tour Australia and Asia next year, says blood donations are required with a degree of consistency.
"We all run the same colour when it comes to blood," Arena said.
"And we could all need it at some point in our lives."
'Phenomenal gift' of blood
Ngaiire was diagnosed with a rare cancer called ganglioneuroblastoma at around the age of three and spent years in hospital.
She had to have radiotherapy, chemotherapy, two major operations and blood transfusions.
"I was just so sick as a child," Ngaiire told ABC News.
"I wasn't going to school anymore, so I literally was just bed-bound, [with] pipes coming in and out of my body."
Ngaiire is in remission, but the pain does occasionally resurface, including when she was pregnant with her first child, who is turning eight this month.
"Giving blood saves lives, but we don't really think about what it means after that," Ngaiire said.
"No-one would have imagined that I'd be able to still have a child, have this career, build the life that I have, [with] the generosity of donors."
Ngaiire says Australian Red Cross Lifeblood needs 1.7 million donations of blood, plasma and platelets every year to fulfil the need in Australia.
"[It] is wild that only one in 30 Australians donate [blood]," Ngairre said.
"But also, one-in-three Australians will need some sort of blood transfusion, whether it's plasma or platelets or blood."
She is encouraging people to think of the impact they can have by giving blood.
"It's giving someone that you might never ever meet in your life the chance to do the things that they might take for granted," Ngaiire said.
"Whether it's just being able to catch a bus to work every day, to do the job that you've been working so hard at or … building a family, building a career like I have.
"It's honestly just the most phenomenal gift."
