“I will never forget that moment” – Blackie Lawless describes “horrific” pain he is currently enduring

WASP’s Blackie Lawless has revealed he has been braving a severe lower back injury while on tour in Europe – and laid bare the extent of his ‘horrific’ agony.

Lawless, 66, says he has an herniated disc and “there are times during many of the shows the pain is overwhelming”.

The legendary frontman says he is now receiving between shows epidural injections, which he describes as “an extremely tricky procedure”.

“For about the last three weeks I’ve been doing these European shows with a herniated disc in my lower back,” Lawless said in a statement.

“For those out there thinking this is somehow age related, I assure it is not. It’s been an ongoing situation stemming from when I broke my leg 10 years ago.

“I won’t go into detail but I had a doctor here in Europe do what should have been a simple procedure on me and he screwed me up really, really badly.

“Besides you all see me crawling up and down on (stage prop) Elvis all night and that something few people can do at any age.

“An MRI done at a hospital in Berlin two weeks ago confirmed this disc problem.”

Most disturbing were his descriptions of receiving the epidural injections.

“These are complicated injections that require the patient be in either a hospital or surgical center to receive them,” Lawless wrote.

“The reason for that is if any of the injections go directly next to the spinal cord the patient can be paralysed.

“These epidurals are painful in themselves because when the medicine is injected it puts pressure in and around the spinal cord.

“When we were there on Saturday the pain was horrific and the nurse looked at the table I was on and it was covered in my sweat. The injections take about 20 minutes and it hurts badly the entire time.

“This nurse there saw my whole body was shaking and while the Doctor was doing the injections she reached over and started gently rubbing and caressing my left calf. I could not see her face but she could see the pain I was in and little she could do for me to stop it.

“I’m a big man, but I swear that I wanted to cry because here was a woman who had sworn an oath to help people anyway she can. It hurt so damn bad but just her touch was telling me she knew what was happening to me and that she was there for me. It was like an eternity of absolute hell and tenderness all at the same time. I will never forget her and that moment for the rest of my life.”

Lawless said he quickly decided against cancelation and postponement.

“This tour has suffered postponement after postponement,” he said.

“Never again will I have a ’40th Anniversary Tour’. I told the doctors, the band and the crew, ‘if I can stand, then I’m going out there’! Additionally I knew the fans, would never be able to understand why I just walked away in the middle of a tour like this.

“In addition to the physical pain there is also the personal pain and aggravation of knowing I’m giving you the fans less than 100 per cent of all I’m capable of giving,” Lawless wrote.

“For a performer like me this is extremely hard to do and also to admit to myself.”