Nicko McBrain, 71, has been the drummer for the heavy metal band Iron Maiden since 1982. But in January of 2023, the English musician was at his home in Boca Raton when he suffered a stroke with partial paralysis. That was the beginning of a challenging journey of physical rehabilitation that followed rapid and precise treatment by stroke specialists at Marcus Neuroscience Institute at Boca Raton Regional Hospital, part of Baptist Health.
{TRANSCRIPT}: - It's interesting what I do for a living. I was very fortunate to have a life in music all my adult life. In 1982, I joined Iron Maiden. When I was 10 years old, I remember sitting in front of the television and then Dave Brubeck Quartet came on tv. Joe Morello, who's the drummer, ended up going into a drum solo. So Joe did this solo. And I remember saying to my dad, I want to be just like that dark sunglass guy. Being in a rock band as big as Maiden, it's every musician's dream. Now, it does have its moments of fragility, if you like. It's Nicko with you here, boys and girls. I do have just a very, very personal message for everybody. I wasn't well earlier this year, as some of you have have quite rightly noticed. It was about probably 8, 8:15. I had a sleep. Woke up about quarter to 9. And as I got turned over, my arm wasn't moving. And I thought, what's going on? And I pulled my hand up, I could feel I had sensation in my hand and I thought, well, where's the pins and needles? Why, it's gone to sleep, and I started to do this and I let my hand go and it just dropped. And I thought, uh-oh.
- My name is Dr. Swerdloff and I was doing stroke call that day, which means there are multiple strokes that come in throughout the day. The patient, when he came out, wasn't able to move his right arm. Now I remember very well because I didn't know Nicko before, but something about him, I said to him, and I'll never forget it 'cause it was amazing, I said, are you a drummer? He says "I am." And who knew? So this is a very significant deficit for this person. Makes a living drumming, has to use both hands. And what he came in with was inability to move that right arm. It was just flat and it was fluctuating. So we had to decide if I give him medication that opens up that area, will it cause him to be worse? You know, as a doctor, the rule is don't make him worse. You should do no harm.
- There was literally 10 and 12 people fussing around me. You talk about being a superstar, you know, that's how I felt. I was getting the superstar treatment.
- So all his vessels are clean, the brain looks great on CT, but now we see the area on the MRI that shows the stroke. He had cross sign right in the area we thought would cause his deficit. And we felt that it was safe to give him the intravenous clot buster. And we gave him the intravenous clot buster. And this person was not moving his arm. And an hour later he was moving his arm again.
- I did honestly think that was it. Now I'm laying in the bed and I'm trying to move it, move my hand, at least my fingers or something, you know, encourage my body to come on, you can do this, you can do this. 'Cause we had scheduled this tour the year prior, you know, two years prior. And we were starting in May and we were going to do rehearsals the last, starting the last week of April. So I thought, well, I've got three months to see if I can, you know, at least play again. Even holding a drum stick, you know, there was nothing there.
- The most recovery happens by three months in terms of a deficit. He's a special type of fellow. So I think he's noticed that he's actually done even more than that. I mean, he has more part of his brain that's delegated to the movement of his hands and arms. You know, he's pushed it to the limit and he's an extraordinary individual. He's done remarkably put it this way. I mean, to think that he's back drumming at the world class level that he is, is for us very nice. I mean, that's just exciting.
- When I first met Nicko, I evaluated him and found that he had weakness in his right side, his right arm, his hands particularly, he had coordination problems and some sensory deficits. We worked for nine, 10 months and then he went out on tour. His speed and his coordination got a lot better. He's done great.
- I grew up in the sixties, so I have hearing aids 'cause hard rock is hard on your ears. So it's very exciting to be able to be part of his life story and the life story of all his friends and fans. I mean, this is a substantial individual.