On Wednesday, news broke that founding Allman Brothers Band guitarist Dickey Betts had been admitted to the hospital after suffering a freak head injury at his Florida home. According to the original report, Betts was playing with his dog on Monday evening when he slipped and cracked his head, causing bleeding in his brain and necessitating emergency brain surgery to save the guitarist’s life. At the time of the initial report in The Herald Tribune, Betts’ longtime manager, David Spero, told the media outlet that Betts was in “in critical but stable condition.”
The extended Allman Brothers family and their fans have had been sending healing vibes Dickey’s way throughout the week. Today, Dickey Betts successfully underwent the emergency operation and is now in recovery.
According to a new statement from Betts’ longtime manager, David Spero, “Hey Dickey fans, your thoughts and prayers helped make this surgery a success. More details later!”
As Betts’ wife, Donna, said in a statement, “‘The family appreciates all of your thoughts and prayers during this very trying time. We are by his side giving him the strength to pull through this. … Dickey is a notorious fighter and he is displaying that now.”
This is not the first medical close call Dickey Betts has had to fight through in recent weeks. A few weeks ago, Betts was forced to postpone three August tour dates due to health concerns following a mild stroke. After a three-week period of rest, last Friday, Betts announced that he was “raring to go” via his band’s Facebook page, and noted that “his recovery from his minor stroke is ahead of schedule and he has already started playing his guitar again.” According to the update at that time, “there will be a minimum of four shows in November including the makeup date for The Hampton Beach Casino. That show will now be November 9th, 2018.”
Here’s hoping that Dickey has a fast recovery and is back onstage soon. For updates on his touring schedule, you can head to his website.
[H/T Herald Tribune]