Bryn Terfel is undergoing complex surgery
mainThe Welsh baritone has cancelled his return to Chicago. Here’s the Lyric’s statement:
While in Bilbao, Spain, for a production of The Flying Dutchman, the acclaimed Welsh singer, Sir Bryn Terfel, suffered a severe injury from a fall that will not allow him to perform in Chicago this weekend. According to Sir Bryn’s physician, he has fractured the three prominences of his ankle, causing the ankle to partly dislocate and requiring a surgery scheduled for later this week. There is no current plan for a rescheduled recital and all patrons for this performance will be contacted with their options. Terfel is recovering at home in Wales under medical supervision, and all of us at Lyric send good wishes for his full recovery.
In a statement, Sir Bryn said this: “Returning to Chicago after nearly 15 years was an absolute dream come true. This terrible fall in Bilbao has dealt me a cruel blow. A performer always dreads the days where cancelations are imminent. I was despondent not to finish the last performance in Bilbao, but am happy I came to that conclusion having learnt today of a triple fracture and dislocation.”
Sir Bryn, 54, has also cancelled a Carnegie Hall recital in February and the Met’s Flying Dutchman in March.
We wish him a speedy recovery.
Ouch. We see a fair number of these in the hospital where I work. (You don’t have to be doing anything acrobatic — it’s often the result of a simple “I thought I was on the bottom stair but I wasn’t” kind of thing.)
A trimalleolar fracture normally means surgery to put in plates and screws to hold the bones together while they heal, followed by at least 6 weeks of non weight bearing and then usually another surgery to remove the hardware. And a lot of pain — even walking around on crutches, that foot is hanging in a dependent position, which increases blood flow and leads to painful throbbing. It’s very fixable, but unpleasant to endure.
He’s a strong healthy middle-aged man and not a frail 85-year-old, so his recovery should be pretty straightforward. But he will definitely be out of commission for a couple of months at least.
I wish him a relatively speedy and painless recovery.
Thank you for that helpful explanation.
I’ve still got a dry chesty cough and runny nose after a week in bed. You think it could be Corona?
The poor fellow; best wishes for a speedy recovery and a return to fitness and good health.