Death Angel’s Will Carroll Checks In One Year After Nearly Dying from Covid-19
Death Angel drummer Will Carroll was one of the first metal musicians to go public about contracting Covid-19 at the very beginning of the pandemic. While several members of Exodus, Testament, Death Angel and their touring crew became sick when the bands were in Europe in February of 2020, Carroll ended up in the ICU, on a ventilator and in a coma that lasted for 12 days. The metal world was gripped with the story just as we were all learning how serious this new disease was. He’s lucky to have lived.
Decibel Magazine has now checked in with Carroll a year after his near-death experience, and we’re happy to report that he’s doing well, saying he’s recovered “100%” and feels back to his old self.
But it wasn’t easy to get there. Carroll said he had to learn to walk again after the coma, but tackled the task head-on before eventually returning to drumming. He explained:
“I learned to walk again. That was the scariest thing. Your body can deteriorate when you just lay in bed for two weeks. I focused on that immediately. Once I overcame that, I went straight back to drumming. The suspense was killing me, but I came back pretty quickly. I got addicted to Frisbee golf and started playing out a few times a week. I never did that before – I almost hated nature before, and now I love it.”
When asked if Carroll is one of the so-called “long-haulers” who experience lingering symptoms months after technically shedding the disease, he replied:
I’ve had none [symptoms] whatsoever. I got a clean bill of health six months ago. My heart and lungs recovered one hundred percent. I don’t feel any bizarre fatigue and have no breathing issues. When I drum, I have the same endurance as before. The only thing that happened is that much of my hair fell out when I got home from the hospital. I’ve heard that happened to other COVID survivors. But I’m pretty lucky. I’ll take it.
Carroll said that it’s been difficult to talk to a small handful of friends who are Covid-19 deniers, explaining:
“A handful of people who have been friends for years fall into that category. I didn’t know how to deal with them. I didn’t want to deal with them. Between the pandemic and the election, a lot of people’s true colors have come out. Some of these people I’ve known for 20-plus years. Now I look at them in a different light or don’t talk to them at all anymore. It was a bummer.”
Carroll goes on to reveal he’s been vaccinated with the Pfizer shot, is now leading a healthier overall lifestyle, and that Death Angel are “working on new stuff” and hope to be in the studio by the end of the year. You can read the full interview here.
