Motörhead’s Mikkey Dee Details Near-Death Sepsis Diagnosis

Former Motörhead drummer Mikkey Dee says he’s lucky to be alive following a sepsis diagnosis over the holiday period.

The Swedish percussionist shared news of his health scare on social media on Thursday (Dec. 2), explaining that he had been hospitalized following a blood infection he described as “very serious”.

“I was admitted for three weeks but now I am home fighting this bastard bacteria,” he shared. “Thankfully, I have received fantastic care at the Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, my hometown.

“So thanks a million to all the Doctors and Nurses that have been giving me the most excellent care,” he added. “After several operations, I am now back home and the numbers are all going in the right direction. Still lots of recovery and rehab in front of me.”

In an interview with Swedish publication Aftonbladet, Dee expanded upon the experience. He told the outlet that what began as a simple sprain quickly evolved into something far worse on the weekend before Christmas.

“The ankle swelled up like hell, then it took on a weird shape and appearance and looked like an overcooked ham,” Dee said. “I became very ill so I had to go by ambulance to Sahlgrenska and there they found that I had sky-high values, so I became priority one there.

“It was surgery right away, the first of three. They cut away what was dead and infected and badly infested. It was not a good journey I was on… Another day and I’d be playing drums with Lemmy in heaven. I can say that.”

In some strange synchronicity, Dee’s brush with death occurred almost nine years to the day since his Motörhead bandmate Lemmy Kilmister passed away, on Dec. 28, 2015. Notably, his health scare also took place mere weeks after he took to social media to refute premature reports of his death.

First rising to fame as a member of Danish outfit King Diamond in the ’80s, a stint with Don Dokken saw Dee recruited by Motörhead to replace Phil ‘Philthy Animal’ Taylor on drums. Dee would remain with the group until their 2015 dissolution in the wake of Lemmy’s passing, and joined German rockers the Scorpions the following year.