Richards' op won't cause lasting harm

Keith Richards

Hard-living rock icon Keith Richards - who once famously went nine days without sleep while on a drug bender - is not likely to suffer long-term effects from surgery to relieve bleeding in his skull, says an Auckland neurologist.

The 62-year-old Rolling Stones guitarist is believed to be recuperating in Auckland after falling from a palm tree in Fiji about 10 days ago.

He is reported to have undergone surgery to relieve a subdural haematoma [bleeding in the skull]. That involved drilling a hole in his skull to drain the blood leaking from ruptured veins between his skull and brain.

The neurologist, who did not want to be named, said though he was not familiar with Richards' case the procedure was "relatively straightforward", and he would likely be back to normal "within a few months".

Richards' rock 'n' roll debauches are legendary, but the neurologist said his past excesses would not normally affect his recovery.

Subdural haematomas were more common in elderly patients, particularly those aged in their 80s and beyond, but at 62 Richards should be "fine".

It was unlikely, however, that he would play the next scheduled shows in the Rolling Stones' Bigger Bang tour, which are set for Barcelona at the end of the month, the neurologist said.

Mystery still surrounds Richards' whereabouts and the details of the accident. His New York-based agent, Fran Curtis, could not be reached yesterday.

It is not the first accident to befall the man reputed to have "five strings and nine lives". He has previously fallen from a ladder while reaching for a book in his library, and fallen ill with an infected finger after cutting it on a guitar string.

Richards' sleep-free nine-day drug binge ended when he fell asleep while standing up. He fell face first into an amplifier, breaking his nose.

Richards is widely rumoured to have undergone a total blood transfusion in 1973 in an attempt to kick heroin.