Brian May, Queen guitarist, says he had minor stroke that left him unable to play

NEWS AT FOUR. CONTINUES. HE WAS LUCKY THAT HE GOT TREATMENT QUICKLY. OFTEN THESE PATIENTS DON’T SURVIVE WHEN EVERY SECOND COUNTS. YOU NEED TO KNOW THE SIGNS AND SYMPTOMS OF A STROKE. SOMEONE HAS A STROKE EVERY SECONDS IN THE U.S. AND EVERY FOUR MINUTES SOMEONE DIES FROM A STROKE. LAST FRIDAY, WE INTRODUCED YOU TO A HARFORD COUNTY STROKE SURVIVOR ALONG WITH HIS SUPPORTIVE WIFE. TONIGHT WE SHOW YOU THE STROKE SIGNS TO LOOK FOR AND WHY MINUTES MATTER. I REMEMBER VERY LITTLE OF THAT DAY. JULY 25TH, 2020. JUST AFTER 11 A.M., EVERYTHING CHANGED FOR CASEY AND CINDY BREWER. HE COULDN’T GET UP AND THEN HE JUST SLUMPED ONTO THE GROUND AND I CALLED 911. CINDY WAS SHOCKED WHEN PARAMEDICS SAID HER 50 YEAR OLD HUSBAND WAS HAVING A STROKE. AND THEN I JUST BROKE DOWN AND CRIED. AT UPPER CHESAPEAKE MEDICAL CENTER, CASEY’S CONDITION WAS BLEAK. HE NEEDED TO GO TO SHOCK TRAUMA. I THINK HE WAS IN THE HELICOPTER WITHIN 20 MINUTES AT SHOCK TRAUMA. DOCTOR CHARLES SENSOR PERFORMED LIFE SAVING SURGERY. HE SAYS QUICK ACTION MADE ALL THE DIFFERENCE IN CASEY’S SURVIVAL IN MR. BREWER’S CASE, HE WAS LUCKY THAT HE GOT TREATMENT QUICKLY. IF THESE SITUATIONS GET LEFT UNATTENDED AND THERE’S NOT A RAPID TRANSFER TO EMERGENCY CARE CENTERS THAT OFTEN THESE PATIENTS DON’T SURVIVE. SO HOW DO YOU RECOGNIZE WHEN SOMEONE IS HAVING A STROKE? LINDSEY GOFF IS A STROKE PROGRAM COORDINATOR IN MARYLAND AND ACROSS THE COUNTRY. WE USE AN ALGORITHM. IT’S CALLED BEFAST. B STANDS FOR PROBLEMS WITH BALANCE. E STANDS FOR EYES. ARE THERE ISSUES WITH VISION? F STANDS FOR FACE. IS ONE SIDE DROOPING? A STANDS FOR ARMS. IS THERE WEAKNESS ON ONE SIDE? S STANDS FOR SPEECH. IS IT SLURRED? AND FINALLY T STANDS FOR TIME. SO WE HAVE AN ONSET OF SYMPTOMS TO 4.5 HOURS TO ADMINISTER THE CLOT BUSTING MEDICATION. BUT THE IV THROMBOLYTIC MEDICATIONS ONLY WORK FOR ISCHEMIC STROKES, NOT THE MUCH MORE RARE HEMORRHAGIC OR BLEEDING STROKE THAT CASEY HAD. UNFORTUNATELY, THEY ARE. THEY TEND TO HAVE A MORE POOR PROGNOSIS BECAUSE WE DON’T KNOW WHERE THE BLEEDING IS COMING FROM. CASEY FEELS HIS UNLIKELY SURVIVAL IS FOR A REASON. I DO FEEL THAT I’M GOING TO BE USED SOMEHOW TO SAVE LIVES OR HELP THE STROKE COMMUNITY. CASEY NOW WORKS WITH LINDSEY AND A STROKE SUPPORT GROUP. I SEE A CHANGE IN CASEY THAT HE WENT FROM, YOU KNOW, FOCUSING ON WHAT HE LOST, BUT HE HAS TRULY ENVISIONED THE NEW NORMAL FOR STROKE BECAUSE HE DOES HELP ME EDUCATE THE PUBLIC. AND HE HAS NOW TURNED THAT TERRIBLE TRAGEDY INTO A POSITIVE MOVE FORWARD BY EDUCATING THE REST OF THE PUBLIC. AND THAT’S HIS MISSION. HIS MESSAGE TO OTHER SURVIVORS. THE POST STROKE LIFE IS DIFFICULT, BUT IT’S IT’S MANAGEABLE IF YOU YOU KNOW, IF YOU’RE SURROUNDED BY PEOPLE THAT LOVE YOU AND PEOPLE YOU LOVE, YOU CAN GET THROUGH IT. CASEY AND CINDY ARE SUCH AN INSPIRATIONAL COUPLE, AND THEIR INTERVIEW WAS VERY MOVING. IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO WATCH THE INTERVIEW

Queen guitarist Brian May had a minor stroke last week that left him unable to control his left arm or play guitar, he said on Wednesday in a video posted on his Instagram feed and website.Video above: Red flags you need to know to survive a strokeHe explained that he had suffered a “health hiccup,” since diagnosed as a “minor stroke,” and went “blue lights flashing” to the hospital when he couldn’t use his arm last week, but he reassured fans that he had since recovered enough to play his guitar.Although May is most famous as a founding member of Queen and for writing some of the legendary rock band’s biggest hits, including “We Will Rock You” and “Who Wants to Live Forever,” he has also enjoyed a career as an astrophysicist and animal rights activist.“Good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days,” he said, adding that it “was a little scary” but that he “had the most fantastic care and attention from Frimley Hospital.”He said he was “okay” and “just doing what I’m told, which is basically nothing,” listing the things he can’t do at the moment like drive, get on a plane or raise his heart rate too high.As he spoke, a plane flew overhead and he joked that “I’m not allowed to have planes flying over, which will stress me.”Later in the video, May also spoke about his recently released documentary detailing his decade-long campaign to stop Britain’s controversial badger cull.The musician has suffered from a series of health issues in recent years.In May 2020, he had a heart attack, after which he had three stents – short, wire-mesh tubes that act like a scaffold to help keep an artery open – put in to alleviate the danger of blood supply being blocked from the heart.Afterward, May told the television show “Good Morning Britain” that he nearly died when he suffered a range of complications, including a stomach hemorrhage as a result of the medication he was taking for his heart.In March last year, he was knighted by King Charles III for his services to music and charity.

LONDON, England —

Queen guitarist Brian May had a minor stroke last week that left him unable to control his left arm or play guitar, he said on Wednesday in a video posted on his Instagram feed and website.

Video above: Red flags you need to know to survive a stroke

He explained that he had suffered a “health hiccup,” since diagnosed as a “minor stroke,” and went “blue lights flashing” to the hospital when he couldn’t use his arm last week, but he reassured fans that he had since recovered enough to play his guitar.

Although May is most famous as a founding member of Queen and for writing some of the legendary rock band’s biggest hits, including “We Will Rock You” and “Who Wants to Live Forever,” he has also enjoyed a career as an astrophysicist and animal rights activist.

“Good news is that I can play guitar after the events of the last few days,” he said, adding that it “was a little scary” but that he “had the most fantastic care and attention from Frimley Hospital.”

He said he was “okay” and “just doing what I’m told, which is basically nothing,” listing the things he can’t do at the moment like drive, get on a plane or raise his heart rate too high.

Miikka Skaffari/Getty Images via CNN Newsource

As he spoke, a plane flew overhead and he joked that “I’m not allowed to have planes flying over, which will stress me.”

Later in the video, May also spoke about his recently released documentary detailing his decade-long campaign to stop Britain’s controversial badger cull.

The musician has suffered from a series of health issues in recent years.

In May 2020, he had a heart attack, after which he had three stents – short, wire-mesh tubes that act like a scaffold to help keep an artery open – put in to alleviate the danger of blood supply being blocked from the heart.

Afterward, May told the television show “Good Morning Britain” that he nearly died when he suffered a range of complications, including a stomach hemorrhage as a result of the medication he was taking for his heart.

In March last year, he was knighted by King Charles III for his services to music and charity.

Brian May, Queen guitarist, says he had minor stroke that left him unable to play

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