The Christians’ drummer Lionel Duke, who had a heart episode onstage over the weekend, has more positive news.
In an interview with the BBC, Garry Christian, the band’s frontman, also provided a terrifying account of the incident.
Regarding Duke, Christian stated that he was recuperating. He’s all right. He will be alright. He will be alright. I’m grateful. He had just emerged from an induced coma when I visited him yesterday morning. He was a little dazed but conscious of me, and we were also laughing. It was good, then.
Christian then described how the terrifying incident happened.
“With my back to Lionel, I had no idea what was going on,” he claimed. “We went onstage, with all the cheers and everything, and we did Forgotten Town and Born Again. We were just getting into the next song, Greenbank Drive.” I was expecting him to do what he usually does, which is a short beat into the song, but it never happened. Quiet. What’s up? I asked myself. You know, we play little games with each other sometimes.
He was slouched over his cymbals when I turned around, and I wondered, what is he doing? Christian went on. Now, at the start of the song, is he repairing his pedal? I ran over when I noticed that he was not moving at all, and his eyes were fixed, so I went a little wild. I shouted, medic, as I turned around. At that moment, chaos ensued, and everyone rushed onto the stage.
However, Christian stated that he thinks Duke will return.
We are only waiting for him to fully recuperate so that he may resume touring and playing drums, he stated. He is unquestionably in recovery.
Duke’s collapse occurred on Saturday while the Christians were opening for rock legend Sting. A privacy curtain was set up and emergency personnel hurried onto the stage as Christian screamed for assistance.
According to a Metro woman, Emma Bridget, the band’s manager, had to break the terrible news to the fans.
“We sincerely hope he will make it,” she said. There was no pulse in him. We believe he has one now. Many thanks.
We’re devastated, but thank you so much. Garry loves Liverpool and wanted to put on the show of his life, so I’m just really sorry.
On Monday, the band posted on Facebook to update Duke’s situation.
As you may have heard, we had to postpone our appearance at the final night of @otwliverpool because our drummer, Lionel Duke, suffered a cardiac arrest early in our performance. The incredible OTWF team and onstage medics treated him while the audience onstage followed @garry.christian’s call for assistance. We especially appreciate @theofficialcasting’s thoughtful and lovely remembrance of Lionel. How brittle we are.
The band posted a positive social media update on Tuesday.
Christian posted a picture of himself sitting in the hospital with an arm over Duke, who was still connected to machines but was sitting up and seemed to be in a good mood, along with the caption, “Miracles do happen,” on Facebook. I found this person in intensive care.
We adore you, Lionel.
Christian wrote, “He made it,” in a second post.
