Paul Connolly, the frontman of Derry band The Wood Burning Savages, took to social media today to open up about his recent health struggles.

“Some of you might have realised that we’ve been a bit quiet recently,” he stated, “and there’s a reason for that.”

“Essentially," Connolly continued, “last year I became really, really ill. Doctors and consultants, for a period of time, couldn’t figure out what was going on.

“It came at a really bad time for us because we were really getting back to touring. We were getting back to releasing music and, essentially, I tried to persevere through it until we figured out what was going on.

“Then came to head last year on our last tour which was particularly difficult for me. I was losing a lot of weight. Basically, my body was beginning to break down. I came from tour and I weighed six stones, which was a bit scary.”

An update. pic.twitter.com/3oQ2t7QaiA

— The Wood Burning Savages (@TWBSavages) September 25, 2024

Connolly went on to reference a picture posted to the band’s Instagram last year, showing them in a BBC radio session: “It’s pretty hot in there, and everybody else is in jeans and a T-shirt, and I think I’ve got six layers on me, because I was freezing and pale as a ghost and everything.”

He also said that he has now “figured out what it is” and “how to treat it,” without offering further details, but thanking the NHS staff in Altnagelvin Hospital who have looked – and continue to look – after him “brilliantly.”

“Genuinely,” Connolly said, “without them I don't think I’d still be here, so I owe them my life and I cannot begin to thank them enough.

He continued by thanking the band’s fans by adding: “a lot of people realised that something was up and reached out to see how I was doing, to ask how things were going and to give support and to talk about things that they have gone through too and that helped me massively. That helped me mentally hugely, that kept me lit.

“Hopefully,” he concluded, “we’ll be back on that track very soon. So, thank you and hopefully we’ll see you down the road, up the front.”