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.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE DAILY WIRE APP
“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!”