Hinch admits he ‘occasionally’ drinks after liver transplant

Senator Derryn Hinch has admitted he is drinking again, despite having sworn off alcohol since receiving a liver transplant.
Hinch, 72, suffered blood poisoning in 2006, and later developed advanced cirrhosis and liver cancer as a result of alcoholism.
In 2008, he vowed to never drink again, even if he got a “titanium liver”.
“I don’t drink now, never will again. If I get a titanium liver, I still won’t drink again,” he said in a public address.
But on Monday night, Senator Hinch admitted in a statement he has the “occasional” alcoholic beverage, but with the permission of his transplant surgeon.
“I have been known to occasionally drink real wine with the permission of my transplant surgeon Professor Bob Jones,” he wrote.
“I have so much to achieve in the Senate, I won’t be making that mistake.
“I know vineyard owners, like I used to be, will recoil at the news that that glass of red or white is diluted with water.”
Senator Hinch released the statement shortly after his former girlfriend Natasha Chadwick, 36, took to Twitter to say he has been “back on booze” for the past 12 months.
Hinch denied the claims are true saying his ex-partner has threatened to “blacken” his name.
“I’ve had the odd glass of wine, perhaps one-third wine and two-thirds water, with Natasha at birthdays and at events like Christmas,” Hinch said.
Hinch received his transplant in 2011.