UB40 bass player Earl Falconer has reflected one year on from his near-death meningitis diagnosis which left him having 'mad dreams' and battling distorted hearing. Earl, 65, was diagnosed with bacterial meningitis – inflammation of the membranes which surround the brain and spinal cord – in October 2023 after returning home from a holiday in Ibiza and collapsing in his Staffordshire kitchen.
He woke up in hospital two weeks later, believing he was in Mexico City and having 'all these mad dreams', before learning of his diagnosis – which, according to Meningitis Research Foundation, can kill in hours.
Thanks to life-saving treatment, Earl has made an almost full recovery and has returned to music, currently playing in New Zealand on UB40’s latest tour.
Earl said he has been left with distorted and impaired hearing following his bacterial meningitis diagnosis, which has been 'brutal' for him as a musician, but he feels 'lucky to be here'.
Earl told PA Real Life: “Just live life every day because life’s really precious and you never know what’s around the corner. It could all go pear-shaped. Luckily, I came out the other end, a little bit impaired and a bit shaken up, but I’m a pretty positive person, so I just see it as another challenge. That’s the way I look at it – it’s just another thing that life throws at you.”
According to Meningitis Research Foundation, bacterial meningitis is a serious, life threatening illness, and the first symptoms are often non-specific and include fever, vomiting, headaches and feeling unwell.
For Earl, he explained that he has always been active – he enjoys riding bikes and hot yoga – and, other than his E. coli diagnosis around a decade ago, he has not experienced any major health problems. However, last year, after returning from a trip to Ibiza, Earl said he noticed 'mucus coming out (his) nose' in October 2023.
“I found out later that it was the fluid that had swollen up around my brain and my spinal cord that was actually coming out my nose,” Earl said.
Four days after being back at home, Earl said he collapsed in his kitchen but managed to get back to bed – and after this, he does not 'remember much'. He was then taken via ambulance to hospital where he received life-saving treatment.
“I woke up two weeks later after being on a ventilator and I thought I was in Mexico City,” he said. “It took me about four or five days to realise I wasn’t actually there.”
Earl said he was extremely weak when he woke up and he could not even pick up a glass of water. He described being in hospital as 'surreal' and said he had 'crazy' dreams, including one where he went to Australia and attended a cricket tournament, and another where he was driving an electric car like he was in 'an action film#.
However, at other times, he feared he would not survive.
“I was having all these mad dreams, dream after dream after dream,” he said. “There were times when I knew it was touch and go, even though I was in a mad dream state, and I remember all the doctors being around me and I thought, ‘I’m probably not going to wake up tomorrow’. I was resigning myself to the fact that I’m probably going to die.”
Earl remained in hospital for one month where he received 'the best treatment you could ever imagine' and towards the latter end, he started walking again and regaining his strength.
On November 7 2023, the band issued the following statement on its website on behalf of Earl while he recovered: “I would just want to say on a personal note to anybody who is 65 and over, to please get inoculated for meningitis. I was due to have my injection this coming January, so I was a bit unlucky, missing it by a few months. I will definitely be back as soon as humanly possible. Thanks for all the lovely messages and support from family, friends and fans. Big love.”
After his one-month hospital stay, Earl returned home where he continued to slowly recover, using Zimmer frames to help him walk, but he noticed that his hearing was affected.
“While I was in the hospital, I woke up one morning and my hearing just changed, just on one side,” he said. "I thought it would come back – it’s like when you’re in the plane and there’s the pressure in your ears and everything. I was waiting for that moment, but it never happened.”
Earl later learned he had sustained damage to the nerves which connect the brain to the ear, meaning his hearing is now impaired and he uses hearing aids. His hearing is also 'distorted', as everything is high-pitched in his right ear but lower in his left, and he said music does not 'sound the same now'.
“It’s brutal because, being a musician, it actually distorts sound and makes things sound different,” he said. “I’m a bass player and I’ve got certain tunes – like Red Red Wine, one of our most famous tunes – you’ve got six or seven chords in Red Red Wine, and then one of the chords when I’m playing, it just sounds wrong, like it’s out of tune. I’m still on a journey trying to adjust and find different ways to try and get around the problem, but it’s really messed my hearing up.”
While Earl, who has five children and 15 grandchildren, said he is 'still on a learning curve', he has nearly made a full recovery and is now back to playing music and going on tour, as UB40 celebrates 45 years.
The band is currently performing in New Zealand, and Earl said he is going to the gym as much as possible to work on his fitness in his spare time. Although Earl was told it can take two years for a full recovery, he said he considers himself 'lucky' and, following World Meningitis Day – the world’s largest day of collective action on meningitis, co-ordinated by Meningitis Research Foundation – he is encouraging people to get vaccinated and “protect yourself as best you can”.
“One minute everything can be alright and the next minute you can be dead,” Earl said. “I’ve had near-death experiences – just riding bikes and mountain biking – but obviously I’m still here, I wasn’t meant to go. My hearing’s all over the place, but I’m still here and really lucky… and I’m just living every day as best I can.”
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