Kastro Pergjoni<\/b>, operations director of the Cart & Horses pub in Stratford, London, England where IRON MAIDEN<\/b> made its live debut in 1976, recently launched a crowdfunding campaign to help raise \u00a320,000 (approximately $27,000) so former MAIDEN<\/b> vocalist Paul Di’Anno<\/b> can undergo his long-delayed knee surgery. So far, Pergjoni<\/b> has raised \u00a38,600, or about 43 percent of the goal, from approximately 340 supporters.<\/p>\n
In an interview conducted in 2019, Di’Anno had this to say:<\/p>\n
\u201cI nearly died four years ago. I had sepsis (a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the body\u2019s response to an infection) in Argentina. I was very, very sick. I just about made it home to England and then straight to the hospital. I\u2019ve been in and out of the hospital for four years now. I had operations done on both legs.\u201d \u2013 Paul Di\u2019Anno<\/p>\n
Di\u2019Anno also mentioned that he had been unable to walk for four years. \u201cIt\u2019s been very, very tough for me at the moment. Because of the sepsis, I keep getting infections, so they can\u2019t do the operations on my legs and stuff like that when they want to do them. And it\u2019s been very difficult\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt the moment, I\u2019ve only got one knee. The other knee has been taken out, but there\u2019s no new knee put in, so it\u2019s been a cement thing. But I wanna play, obviously, but I can\u2019t do that until I\u2019m fixed. I haven\u2019t stopped playing music, and I\u2019ve got no plans to retire, I wanna keep playing, but I need to get well.\u201d<\/p>\n
Di’Anno<\/b> recorded two classic albums with IRON MAIDEN<\/b> \u2014 a self-titled effort in 1980 and “Killers”<\/b> in 1981 \u2014 before being fired and replaced by Bruce Dickinson<\/b>. He went on to front a number of other bands, including KILLERS<\/b> and BATTLEZONE<\/b>, and released several solo records.<\/p>\n