Heavy metal rocker Nicko McBrain finally shared an update with Iron Maiden fans who noticed he didn’t seem well earlier this year, revealing he suffered a stroke in January.
In a video shared on YouTube, the 71-year-old drummer said that the stroke has left him partially paralyzed, but he is taking it one day at a time, and talked about getting better and stronger “by the grace of God.”
“I wasn’t well earlier this year, as some of you have quite rightly noticed,” McBrain said in the clip.
“In January, I had a stroke — thank the Lord it was a minor one referred to as a TIA (Transient ischaemic attack),” he added, in a statement. “It left me paralyzed on my right side from my shoulder on down. of course, I was very worried that my career was over, but with the love and support from my wife, Rebecca, and family, my doctors, especially Julie my OT (Occupational Therapist), and my Maiden family, I was able to bounce back to somewhere near 70% recovered.”
“After 10 weeks of intense therapy, it was almost time to start rehearsals for our tour,” the rocker continued. “I feel it’s important to let you know about this now instead of earlier, as I was mainly concerned with doing my job and concentrating on getting back to 100% fitness. I’m not there yet, but by the grace of God, I’m getting better and stronger as the weeks go by.”
McBrain’s manager Rod Smallwood added in a message that he and the rest of the band think what Nicko has been able to “achieve since his stroke shows incredible belief and willpower, and we are all very proud of him.”
“Nicko being Nicko he did not want to make a fuss and cause any distraction to the tour at the time, but now that he is sure he will soon get there, he thought you fans should know straight from him rather than by any rumors!” his manager wrote.
“We are all of course delighted he battled through this so well and look forward to many more tours together starting with the three Western Canada shows and Power Trip in California coming up in a couple of months time,” he added. “We can’t wait! This tour is that good!”
I watched an iron maiden concert on video from a couple years back and I got to say rock stars should no when it is time to quit touring but putting that asside the music was splendid not quite the par of the 1980s and 1990s maiden but still very enjoyable to this old headbanger good luck with the recovery and I will always remember you as the mad man you were on the some where in time tour and the live after death tour.
Clot shot!
I did not take the shot but I’ve had three TIA’s. Each time the TIA was addressed within 3 hours of onset. IV’s are used immediately to thin out the blood so that the plaque that is jammed up in a brain capillary can then pass. Where the clog starts is where the corresponding damage to the body begins. Until the clog is removed there will be semi to permanent damage depending upon how long the clog has lasted. If you wake up with symptoms it is absolutely necessary to start getting the blood thinned out. He obviously did not catch it within 3 hours of onset. Men’s blood thickens as we age. There is no problem passing chunks of plaque (which is normal) when blood has the thickness of water but when the blood becomes more like syrup then that’s where danger comes in. If you are a man over 50 you need to keep your blood thin. That means taking aspirin every day. One of my TIA’s occurred on a desolate road 75 miles south of Mazatlan in Mexico. I had whiteout blindness. In my glove compartment I had a bottle of aspirin. I immediately started chewing on a handful of aspirin. Within a half hour the blindness abated with no permanent damage Men, keep your blood thin. If you took the shot you’re susceptible to blood clots. You can avoid that by taking aspirin everyday. Hopefully this message will save someone’s life. I am not a doctor. I’m a survivor. I’m 73.