A new photograph of Ronnie Biggs shows the ailing Great Train Robber lying bare-chested in his hospital bed.
Biggs, 79, who was refused parole last week, is being treated at the Norfolk and Norwich Hospital after being moved from a nearby prison.
In the picture, sent to MPs by his legal adviser Giovanni Di Stefano, he appears frail with his arms heavily bandaged and tongue lolling out of the side of his mouth.
His son, Michael, said Biggs had pneumonia, plus fractures of the hip, pelvis and spine and could die if he does not respond to treatment. He has suffered three strokes and cannot eat, speak or walk, according to Mr Di Stefano.
Justice Secretary Jack Straw rejected a parole board recommendation that Biggs be released, saying he was "wholly unrepentant" about his crimes.
Biggs, from Lambeth, south London, was a member of a 15-strong gang which attacked the Glasgow to London mail train at Ledburn, Buckinghamshire, in August 1963, and made off with £2.6 million in used banknotes.
He was given the 30-year sentence but after 15 months he escaped from Wandsworth prison in south-west London by climbing a 30ft wall and fleeing in a furniture van.
He was on the run for more than 30 years, living in Spain, Australia and Brazil, before returning to the UK voluntarily in 2001 in search of medical treatment.
He was locked up in Belmarsh high security prison on his return before being moved to a specialist medical unit at Norwich prison.
The decision means Biggs will not be free to celebrate his 80th birthday on August 8, 46 years to the day since the raid.
