IRON Maiden drummer Nicko McBrain has revealed he was partially paralysed by a stroke in January.
McBrain, 71, went public over the weekend saying he was now “70 per cent recovered” from the incident, which occurred at the start of rehearsals for the British legends’ current world tour.
“In January I had a stroke,” he wrote on Facebook.
“Thank the Lord it was a minor one referred to as a TIA. It left me paralysed 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, especiallyJulie my OT (Occupational Therapist), and my Maiden family I was able to bounce back to somewhere near 70 per cent recovered.
“After 10 weeks of intense therapy it was almost time to start rehearsals for our tour.
“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 percent fitness.
“I’m not there yet but by the grace of God I’m getting better and stronger as the weeks go by.”
McBrain suffered lyryngeal cancer, in 2020, also keeping the condition quiet.
Manage Rod Smallwood said: “The rest of the band and l think that what Nicko has been able to achieve since his stroke shows incredible belief and willpower and we are all very proud of him.
“With this new and musically very complex set to learn ahead of him, he just got his head down and concentrated on recovery.
“We honestly did not know if he would be able to play a whole show until band rehearsals started in May and there was just so much support for him from the band and then genuine relief for all when we saw he was going to be able to do it!”
