Mike Portnoy
Mike, formerly of Avenged Sevenfold and Dream Theater, was in London for a gig and visited a hospital because he was feeling sick. The staff didn’t rush to take care of him to make his show, so he went off on ‘em on Facebook.
But now, he’s sorry.
“I’d just like to apologize to anybody I offended with [Saturday’s] post… It was not a personal attack or rage against England’s health care system in general (of which I know nothing about)… [Saturday] I was the sickest I’ve EVER been in my life.”
Not counting metal illness.
“The paramedics came to see me at the gig and then decided to take me to the emergency room, only for the ambulance to run out of gas and I was then driven to the hospital by a very kind fan who offered to help. Neal and I calmly waited in the A&E [Accident & Emergency] without any indication from any of the staff of when I would be seen. I did NOT expect any special treatment or wanted to be put ahead of anybody else in need (as I have been so wrongly accused)… We only wanted some (ANY!) answers as the clock was ticking until showtime…
“At 7:45, I had to make the decision to continue to wait and cancel the show… or leave without being seen in order to make the 8 p.m. show. I desperately did NOT want to disappoint the fans and made the decision to leave in order to make the show. I played the show in the worst physical condition of my life.
“I’m sure you can imagine how frustrating this experience was and I stupidly posted about it on my social media. I am shocked and appalled at some of the rude and downright nasty comments that have been posted in the wake of this… really, 10 [times] worse than my post. It’s sad to see such hatred… but whatever, I can suck it up and take it. I surely never meant for such attention and controversy.
“Thank you to everybody that cared and sent me well wishes and prayers… The positive vibes will help me on the road to recovery. In any case, I really need to crawl back in my bunk, get off the Internet to try and recuperate… but I wanted to address this issue and explain what happened and apologize to whomever I offended.”
I have to wonder what Mike thought the response would be to his Facebook rant against that hospital. Did he assume people would contact the hospital to complain? Did he expect people would support him and say, “Fuck those doctors for leaving you hanging?”
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