photo courtesy Deryck Whibley
photo via Deryck Whibley social media

 

Hard to believe that it was a year ago now that we were all shocked by photos of SUM 41 frontman Deryck Whibley, scarily thin and sickly looking, laying in a hospital bed.  Even more shocking, the open letter that followed, telling fans that he’d collapsed in his home and had spent days in a coma, suffering from liver and kidney failure, the result of years of alcohol abuse. Now, a year later and on the path to recovery, Deryck sat down with Noisy by Vice to talk about how his life has changed.On his health now:

“I still have trouble with my walking, because being in the hospital for that long, everything just depleted. My muscles, everything. I couldn’t walk for the longest time, and I’m still re-training myself to walk normally. The doctors say it’s been going quickly, but it feels pretty slow to me. I could have had way more health problems than I had, but my liver is fine! Everything shut down before any more damage could happen. To walk out of there alive, without cirrhosis or needing transplants, you know, it could have been worse.”

On his recovery:

“Mentally, I don’t even want to drink again anyway.  If I literally hadn’t done it to death, I might feel like I’ll be missing something, but I’m not missing anything. I’m done with it. I’ve definitely had enough and it’s not even really that fun….I’m feeling better than I’ve ever felt. I’m healthier. I’m in the best shape of my life. I’m more productive. Well, I was always really productive, but I was just good at being a functional alcoholic.”

On writing new music:

“I was writing right in the hospital. Right away, I was singing and stuff, writing things down. When the doctors said it would be a long recovery for me, I was like, “What do you mean? I need to have a record out this year.” And they said I wouldn’t be going on tour for at least a year, maybe two, but I told them I’d be doing an album and touring, and they laughed at me. But here I am now, halfway through a record.”

Check out the full interview HERE