Aslan frontman Christy Dignam has revealed people think he is faking being so ill.
The singer is battling amyloidosis, a rare blood disorder, since 2013 but has managed to keep the illness at bay to allow him to continue performing with the band.
But the Dublin rocker said many people think he’s faking being sick - even his wife Kathryn jokes that she looks like a liar to people who ask how he is doing. Christy told The Star : “Yeah a lot of people. Kathryn is always saying it.”
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The Crazy World singer recalled how one week he was over in London for treatment for three days and returned home to go on the Late Late Show but considered cancelling his appearance because he felt so unwell.
“We went over, and we were there for three days. We came back on a Thursday evening and then I had to go to RTE on the Friday to do the Late Late Show.
“So, I was saying about half six, I was thinking I don’t think I should do this, I’m in bits after the week I just had and then I went and we said we would see what happens. But adrenaline kicks in then. Kathryn then says ‘you’re making a liar out of me, I’m telling everyone that you’re in bits and then you go out and [perform]’”
But Christy said he hasn’t been on chemo for about 10 months. “I was on chemo for a year prior to that and I didn’t realise how much the chemo was debilitating until I stopped. I just thought I was getting old.”
Christy said since his cancer diagnosis, his family have been the only thing to matter to him.
“See when I got diagnosed, where I lived, the house I lived in didn’t matter, the car I drove didn’t matter. Aslan didn’t matter. The only thing that mattered was I wanted to see my grandson’s communion, my granddaughter’s confirmation. Things like that. That’s all that mattered, my family.”
The band are gearing up to play Dublin’s 3Arena on September 17 to celebrate their 40th anniversary.
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