The U2 camp have confirmed that Bono has been discharged from hospital in Munich where he underwent emergency surgery last week following a back injury.
In order to fully recover, he’ll have to undergo eight weeks of recuperation, which has forced the band to postpone 16 U2360° Tour dates in America.
“Bono suffered severe compression of the sciatic nerve,” says the attendant physician Dr. Muller Wohlfahrt who also looks after the Bayern Munich football team. “On review of his MRI scan, I realised there was a serious tear in the ligament and a herniated disc, and that conservative treatment would not suffice. I recommended Bono have emergency spine surgery with Professor Tonn at Munich’s LMU University Hospital on Friday.
“We’re treating Bono as we would treat any of our athletes and while the surgery has gone very well, the coming weeks are crucial for a return to full health. In the next days, he will start a light rehabilitation programme, with increasing intensity over the next eight weeks. In our experience, this is the minimum time.”
Revealing the severity of the injury, Professor Tonn says: “Bono was referred to me by Dr. Muller Wohlfahrt late last week with a sudden onset disease. He was already in severe pain with partial paralysis in the lower leg. The ligament surrounding the disc had an eight mm tear and during surgery we discovered fragments of the disc had traveled into the spinal canal. This surgery was the only course of treatment for full recovery and to avoid further paralysis. Bono is now much better, with complete recovery of his motor deficit. The prognosis is excellent but to obtain a sustainable result, he must now enter a period of rehabilitation.”
As for those postponed dates, manager Paul McGuinness rues that: "Our biggest and I believe best tour has been interrupted and we’re all devastated. For a performer who lives to be on stage, this is more than a blow. He feels robbed of the chance to do what he does best and feels like he has badly let down the band and their audience. Which is of course nonsense. His concerns about more than a million ticket buyers whose plans have been turned upside down, we all share, but the most important thing right now is that Bono make a full recovery. We’re working as fast as we can with Live Nation to reschedule these dates.”
Bono’s injury also means that U2 will have to cancel their Friday night headliner at Glastonbury on June 25. The singer called Michael Eavis personally to break the news.
“It was obvious from our conversation that U2 are hugely disappointed,” the Glasto boss proffers. “Clearly, they were looking forward to playing the Pyramid Stage as much as we were looking forward to watching them. At this point, we have no comment to make about possible replacements for U2's Friday night slot. Instead, we would simply like to send Bono our very best wishes for a full and speedy recovery.”