Brian May, 72, hobbles around on crutches as he’s seen for the first time since tearing his buttock muscle ‘to shreds’ while gardening and admits nerve pain ‘paralysed his brain’
Hobbling along on crutches, it is only the mop of hair that gives his identity away.
Queen guitarist Brian May has been seen taking his first steps after ripping his gluteus maximus – an injury which left him unable to walk unaided.
The musician, 72, said he has been in a ‘nightmare world’ and had to resort to heavy painkillers and physio after he injured his buttock muscle while doing some ‘over-enthusiastic gardening’.
Crutches: Queen guitarist Brian May has been seen taking his first steps after ripping his gluteus maximus – an injury which left him unable to walk unaided
The rocker looked already fed up with having to rely on crutches as he hobbled around West London at the weekend.
In a post on Instagram he said: ‘I’m dependent on these ‘crutch’ devices to get around… not for long, hopefully.’
May, who is married to former EastEnders star Anita Dobson, 71, also said the nerve pain caused by his injury ‘paralysed my brain’. He said: ‘I felt it took over my personality… I was in a nightmare world.’
Sharing a video update on Saturday, the rocker told his 2.4m Instagram followers:
Ouch: The musician, 72, said he has been in a ‘nightmare world’ and had to resort to heavy painkillers and physio after he injured his buttock muscle while doing some gardening
’I’ve got some great help with pain management and rehabilitation. Today I can sit and potter slowly around holding on to things with almost no pain. It’s incredible what real pain does to you.’
‘I’ve always been a bit of a big shot about my tolerance to pain levels – like not getting Novocaine jabs at the dentist or whatever – But this nerve pain which came to inhabit my body about three weeks ago – no, it wasn’t a glute thing after all – has paralysed my brain.’
‘I felt it took over my personality. I woke up feeling that somehow the pain WAS me, and I was struggling to get back in my body. And I did give in and take the heavy duty painkillers, and in the end I was in a nightmare world.’
Injured: In a post on Instagram he said: ‘I’m dependent on these ‘crutch’ devices to get around… not for long, hopefully.’
‘The only thing to do was kick it all and come out. But I could only do that because I got some great physio help and some osteopathy. I’ll tell you the whole story sometime, but for now … happy weekend.’
Earlier this month Brian broke the news on Instagram that he was in hospital sharing a selfie of him in a surgical mask.
He wrote: ‘I managed to rip my gluteus maximus to shreds in a moment of over-enthusiastic gardening.
Nightmare: May, who is married to former EastEnders star Anita Dobson, 71, also said the nerve pain caused by his injury ‘paralysed my brain’
‘So suddenly I find myself in a hospital getting scanned to find out exactly how much I’ve damaged myself.
‘Turns out I did a thorough job – this is a couple of days ago – and I won’t be able to walk for a while… or sleep, without a lot of assistance, because the pain is relentless.’
The muscle, the largest in the body, controls hip and thigh movement.
May told fans he needs to ‘go dark’ to get ‘complete rest’ and asked for ‘healing silence’ over ‘sympathy’.
The veteran rocker has been entertaining fans in lockdown with ‘micro-concerts,’ music tutorials and #JamwithBri sessions in which he invites fans to add their own take on his songs.
Earlier this month Brian broke the news on Instagram that he was in hospital sharing a selfie of him in a surgical mask