Exclusive: The Charlatans drummer Jon Brookes reveals his brain cancer battle

Oct 10 2010 by Ben Goldby, Sunday Mercury

THE Charlatans drummer Jon Brookes has relived the terrifying moment he almost died on-stage from an undiagnosed brain tumour.

The rock star, 41, is facing weeks of chemotherapy and radiation treatment in a bid to beat the cancer which caused his collapse during a gig with the chart-toppers in Philadelphia, USA.

But the brave dad-of-three has vowed to be back behind his drum kit by Christmas – despite fearing he might never play again after his on-stage seizure last month.

Jon, from Burntwood, Staffordshire, said: “I was halfway through a North American tour with the band and it was going great, the crowds were amazing and we were having a fantastic time.

“We were up on stage, and I was doing my thing, when all of a sudden the bass guitar just sounded much louder than normal. I couldn’t work out what was going on.

“I saw lights flashing in the corners of my eyes and my vision was obscured by two purple orbs, almost like the inside of a lava lamp.

“My hearing went and I felt nausea and dizziness. It was very intense, very surreal.

“The band were playing one tune and I started to play the ending to a different song, so the rest of them realised something was wrong. They gathered around me and asked if I was OK, but I wasn’t in control of myself anymore.

“At that point, I was just a passenger, my brain had decided to do its own thing.”

With Jon collapsed, a doctor in the audience rushed on stage to offer his help.

He realised something was seriously wrong and the drummer was rushed to a nearby hospital, where experts diagnosed a stage four brain tumour.

They recommended an immediate operation to remove the cancer.

But Jon insisted on returning home to his wife Deborah and kids Lola Primrose, nine, Ruby Rose, six, and 18 month-old Coco Dahlia before the life-saving operation.

He said: “I was kind of semi-comatosed in the hospital, it was bad.

‘‘Doctors gave me the option to have the operation done in the US but my kids are only young, so I wanted to be close to them and my wife.