Looks for pop legend Judith Durham recounts her fortunate escape following a brain hemorrhage.
With her band, The Seekers, a pop classic from the 1960s, Australian singer Judith Durham, 70, has sold over 60 million recordings. But she had a cerebral hemorrhage that almost killed her, so they had to cancel their 50th anniversary tour. She describes what transpired here.
When we were on tour in my hometown of Melbourne in May of last year, I sensed something wasn’t right. We had just finished our first night of shows, and I was going to have something to eat in my hotel room.
I assumed I would just turn on the TV, but as I reached for the buttons, I realized I had forgotten how to do so.
That’s when I realized something wasn’t quite right. I called my manager, who came to my room and could also tell that something was off, even though I didn’t feel sick or in any pain. He was aware of my dysfunction as he knew me well. I lacked stability on my feet
Doctors promptly identified a brain hemorrhage—and a rather significant one, at that—after doing a scan. My extremely high blood pressure was lowered by them, or else I might have had more bleeding.
I’m glad I didn’t go to bed because I may have died. I had almost gone to bed, believing I would feel better by morning.
Really, it was a miracle. But I didn’t realize how serious things were getting to me at the time. And I realized slowly that I wasn’t afraid at all.
Really, it was a miracle. But I didn’t realize how serious things were getting to me at the time. And I realized slowly that I wasn’t afraid at all.
Although I didn’t feel any different from usual, they put me in the hospital for two weeks to check my blood pressure. My realization of the difficulty I faced came over the months I spent recovering.
Thankfully, my voice did not suffer—that was my biggest concern.
Strangely enough, I feel like I’ve got better at singing since the hemorrhage. My doctor asked me to play a song for him a few days after I was taken to the hospital to check whether I could still. I sang Morningtown Ride, one of our most well-known songs, to him. Regarding everyone relief
I It was quite miraculous. However, at the time, I was unaware of how seriously things were affecting me. And gradually it dawned on me that I was not terrified at all.
I felt exactly the same as normal, but they admitted me to the hospital for two weeks so they could monitor my blood pressure. Over the course of the months I spent healing, I became aware of the challenges I faced.
My main concern was that my voice might suffer, but thankfully it did not.
Ironically, I think my singing has improved since the bleeding. A few days after I was brought to the hospital, my doctor asked me to play him a song to see whether I could still. I performed a rendition of our hit song, Morningtown Ride.
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