Heinz Hoenig before surgery on Monday: Wife says: “He fights and is brave”

Heinz Hoenig (72) is scheduled to undergo surgery in Berlin on Monday (May 13th). A few hours before, his wife Annika Kärsten-Hoenig (39) was live in the studio of the RTL program “stern TV am Sonntag” late on Sunday evening. “Heinz is very afraid, but also has a great will to live,” she described how the seriously ill actor was doing shortly before the first of two vital operations.

In a conversation with moderator Dieter Könnes (52), she also emphasized that he was “very, very brave” before the operation on the esophagus. “Heinz fights and is brave.” Nevertheless, he is of course also afraid because he knows about the risks. The doctors explained things to him well and emphatically, and she herself also spoke openly with him. “The risk is very high.” But they both tried to focus on the opportunities. They had a chance for him to live on, and they wanted to take advantage of it. “But he also knows that we stick together and that love is greater than anything that lies ahead.”

Now she must protect her protector

When asked how she was doing in the midst of the difficult time, she said: “My strength is love for my husband. When I can be with him, I recharge my batteries and feel good.” Then she added: “He is my great protector who I have to protect now.” So that she could spend every minute at the hospital bed, a friend traveled with her to Berlin to look after her two little sons. They tried to make the children’s time as enjoyable as possible. Nevertheless, her mother’s heart suffers. The two boys, especially the older son (3), would miss their dad, especially in the evenings. “And I can’t replace him.”

Annika Kärsten-Hoenig also discussed the financial misery again on “stern TV am Sonntag”. Because Heinz Hoenig has not had health insurance for several years. “He used to earn good money and could have taken precautions, yes. But he always had to pay for everything himself – and at some point the reserves ran out.” Since 2021, she has tried everything to get him into health insurance, but it has been in vain. It was only on Friday that she found out that her application for compulsory follow-up insurance had been rejected. She and her husband are all the more grateful for the willingness of many people to donate. “I’m at a loss for words. I would like to thank each and every one of them.” It is “simply wonderful” that Heinz Hoenig is shown such great humanity. “There are still good people out there.” A fundraising campaign has now raised more than 156,000 euros for the expensive treatment (as of Monday, 6 a.m.).

Heinz Hoenig decided to have operations

Kärsten-Hoenig told the “Bild” newspaper about a week ago that a bacterial inflammation had spread to Hoenig’s entire aorta and that a stent inserted into the actor in 2012 was damaged. A new stent was then inserted. After a few days, the doctors took him out of the induced coma so that he could make his own decision about what to do next. Hoenig needs surgery on his aorta and a hole was discovered in his esophagus. Hoenig decided on the operations and appeared combative. His wife described that he said: “Order to the people out there, I’ll come back no matter what.”