Slayer Guitarist to Sit Out Tour to Recover from Spider Bite
Jeff Hanneman does not like spiders. After he was bitten last year, he almost lost his arm and had to be placed in a medically-induced coma. He’s also had to endure several operations that involved removing dead and dying tissue from the limb.
Coming back has been difficult. He’s had to learn to walk all over again along with painful skin grafts. While he was well enough to appear briefly with the band at Coachella, he needs more time to continue his rehab.
Check out this quote from an interview in Classic Rock magazine last year:
The arm was real hot. I got to the emergency room, and thank god the nurse knew straight away what it was. By chance, although it’s pretty rare, she had seen a case a little while before. At that point, I was an hour away from death.
Unbelievably, the doctor was a Slayer fan and the first thing he said to me was: “First I am going to save your life. Then I am going to save your arm. Then I am going to save your career.”