Robert Fripp recently suffered a heart attack and underwent two emergency surgeries in Italy.
The legendary King Crimson guitarist detailed the experience alongside his wife, Toyah Willcox, in an installment of the couple’s “Upbeat Moments” YouTube series. The heart attack occurred as he was embarking on a flight to Italy last month to perform at an Orchestra of Crafty Guitarists event at Castione della Presolana in Bergamo. He was suffering from chest pains that he assumed to be acid reflux, but still decided to fly, arranging for an appointment with a doctor once he reached Italy.
However, once he arrived in Bergamo, he was taken to a hospital to be tested before being admitted to intensive care, where he underwent two emergency surgeries. He was diagnosed as suffering from a trifurcated artery, and he had a pair of stents inserted during the two surgeries.
Given the typically joyful nature Robert and Toyah’s videos, the King Crimson founder managed to make light of the scary situation with some comic relief.
“Well here’s the interesting bit,” said Fripp. “I was in A&E [Accident and Emergency] not quite knowing what was going on other than I knew they were going to do something, and an orderly came along and shaved my balls!”
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Fripp, who turns 79 years old this Friday (May 16th), continued, “Now the dear man, I really didn’t wish his job on him at that point. Now this is the thing. So you’re concerned with my heart, fine. What are you doing shaving my balls?”
Toyah said that the language barrier in Italy made it difficult to communicate with the medical staff, and at one point, Fripp mistakenly removed his clothing when he was asked what he wanted to eat.
“They were complex moments,” Fripp laughed.
Thankfully everything else seems to have went well.
While Toyah quipped that the couple are “not allowed any nookie for a month,” as Fripp recovers over the next six to eight weeks, they will continue their famous “Sunday Lunch” performance videos in the meantime. Fripp was also able to still direct the guitar show at Castione della Presolana a week after his surgeries.
Below you can see the couple’s video discussing Fripp’s heart attack and surgeries.
Content shared from consequence.net.