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Phil Collins ‘Drop Foot’ Fall: Was Alcohol To Blame?

By Victoria Miller
Published on: 00:21 PST, Jun 9, 2017

Phil Collins suffered a nasty fall—nasty enough to force him to cancel several of his upcoming Not Dead Yet shows—and now some fans wonder if the 66-year-old Genesis drummer’s accident was due to alcohol. Collins had just started to tour again after a 10-year hiatus when he suffered a fall in the middle of the night and was rushed to the hospital, according to ABC News.

A note to fans on Phil Collins’ Facebook page revealed that the music icon suffers from “drop foot” as a result of a 2009 back operation that left him unable to play the drums. Collins reportedly slipped in the middle of the night when he went to use the bathroom in his hotel room, banging his head on a chair. Phil received stitches for a severe gash on his near his eye and was forced to cancel his sold-out shows in London as he’s kept in the hospital under observation.

While Collins has plans to reschedule the canceled shows and intends to “carry on with this tour on Sunday in Cologne and then Paris before returning to London for his headline performance at BST Hyde Park on June 30,” the incident has diehard fans of the singer very concerned.

One of those fans is Sharon Osbourne. On Thursday’s episode of The Talk, Osbourne, who has her own experience with things that go bump in the night, said she adores Phil Collins and hopes from the bottom of her heart that alcohol wasn’t a factor in the accident.

Osbourne, has been vocal about the drug and alcohol struggles of her husband Ozzy Osbourne, said “drop foot” is often related to alcoholism. Sharon also said her husband suffered a very similar accident—slipping and cutting his head—due to his “drop foot” diagnosis.

The timing of Phil Collin’s accident is unfortunate. Not only did it mar Phil’s comeback concert tour, but it came just a few months after the music legend revealed that he was back on the bottle, despite admitting that alcohol almost killed him. In fact, the ladies on The Talk were just “talking” about Phil’s return to drinking the day before the accident occurred.

Last fall, Phil Collins told Entertainment Tonight that, after announcing his retirement in 2011, he turned to booze to fill his boring days. But Phil reiterated that he didn’t consider himself an alcoholic.

“I kind of enjoyed not having to do anything — turn on some TV, watch some sports,” Collins explained of his early retirement. “Then you’re turning on the TV a little earlier, having a glass of wine a little earlier. Then the wine becomes vodka, and then suddenly, you’re killing yourself.”

Phil admitted that his wake-up call came when he landed in the hospital.

“I was in intensive care,” Collins revealed.

“I was in a hospital with tubes sticking out of my neck and on my back with constant bleeping machines, and that was awful.”

While Phil Collins went on to a short rehab stint, he later determined that he does not consider himself an alcoholic, but that he temporarily had “a problem” with alcohol.

“I didn’t drink for three years,” Phil told ET.

“Now, I’m capable of having a couple of glasses of wine. I personally do not believe I was an alcoholic. I had a problem with alcohol. I didn’t have anything else to do, and I enjoyed it. But when I had to stop because it was killing me, I stopped.”

Phil Collins has extended his apologies to fans for the canceled shows and assured fans he is on the mend. At the New York City premiere of Okja on Thursday night, Phil’s daughter, Lilly Collins, told ET her famous dad is “doing good” following his scary fall.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=beQ17TAZdCc

[Featured Image by Elsa/Getty Images]

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