MUSIC
Rick Allen from Def Leppard reflects on being attacked in Florida earlier this year
After years of recovering from his 1985 car accident, Rick Allen felt as prepared as he could be when attacked by a fan in Florida.
Rick Allen, from the band Def Leppard, recently appeared on ‘Good Morning America’ to finally talk about his attack on March 13 in Florida following a show.
“I heard a couple of steps and then I just saw this dark sort of flash, and the next thing I knew I was on the ground,” he reflects on. “I landed on my backside and then continued on, hit my head on the pavement.”
The drummer was standing outside the nearby Four Seasons Hotel smoking a cigarette when a 19-year-old man rushed up to him and knocked him to the ground.
When a woman ran out of the hotel to assist Allen, the attacker also assaulted her. She tried to flee back into the hotel, but he grabbed her by the hair and dragged her out of the lobby and back outside before fleeing the area, per a police report obtained by EW.
“I don’t think he knew who I was, but he must’ve seen that I wasn’t a threat because, you know, I’ve only got one arm,” said Allen.
Rick Allen says he was more prepared for this than his car accident in January 1985, which resulted in his left arm being amputated.
“I immediately just went to that place of just feeling grateful for the fact that I have an amazing wife and an incredible family,” he said. “I just started just thanking a higher power for the fact that I’m still here.”
Def Leppard’s European tour just kicked off Monday evening in Sheffield, England.
“I know that I’m not gonna be playing music in a band forever, but while I am, I plan on making as many people happy as I possibly can,” he said. “This is my opportunity. If only we could view other things in that way. We’re only here for a limited time.”
“Thank you everyone for your overwhelming support. Your love and prayers are truly helping. My wife Lauren [Monroe] was thankfully not with me at the time of the incident. We are together now, and working on recovering in a safe space,” he wrote in the post.
Max Hartley, who had been visiting Fort Lauderdale from Ohio, was charged with two counts of battery, four counts of criminal mischief and abusing an elderly or disabled adult, according to the report. He has since pleaded not guilty, according to ‘GMA’.