Def Leppard Drummer Rick Allen Discusses C4 Corvette That Took His Arm

After a horrific accident in his C4 Corvette that should have ended his career, Allen instead beat the odds and came out stronger than ever.

Anyone that grew up in the 1980s and early 1990s is well aware of who Def Leppard is, the English-based rock band that cranked out billboard-topping hit after billboard-topping hit for years. Most Def Leppard fans are also well aware that the band’s drummer, Rick Allen, is missing his left arm, yet somehow managed to continue to play on a professional level in spite of this. Recently, Allen discussed how he managed to pull off that impressive feat, as well as the C4 Corvette that left him that way, in an interview with Forbes.

As was typical with rock stars of the era, Allen’s accident occurred after a bit of spirited driving in his C4 Corvette. “My girlfriend at the time and I were on a winding country road, having a nice drive near Sheffield,” he said. “This Alfa Romeo came round a corner and went blazing past. I was like, ‘Wow, that’s some interesting driving.’ As I continued on, I realized this Alfa had slowed, so I would catch up. For three or four miles, every time I tried to pass, he would speed up. This kept going on, and finally I kind of lost my cool and put my foot down.”

That’s when disaster quite literally struck. “Now bear in mind, I’m driving a left-hand-side car in England, so I’m on the opposite side,” Allen said. “Suddenly, this long corner revealed itself, and, at a certain point, it was too late. I lost control – I think the roads were a bit slippery, too – and, as the car rolled, the seat belt came undone and took my left arm. The arm stayed in the car, and I disappeared through the sunroof, banging my head really badly going out, and ended up probably 150 yards away in a field, literally just lying there.”

Knowing this, it’s amazing that Allen simply survived this horrific accident, a fact that he’s well aware of. “What saved my life is that I tensed up so I didn’t bleed out,” he said. “I wasn’t unconscious. There was an off-duty cop and a nurse, who didn’t know each other at the time, who helped fix me up. About 45 minutes later, an ambulance arrived and took me to the hospital. It wasn’t until then that I actually bled out when they put me under with anesthetic.”

Allen wound up in a coma for two weeks, and doctors actually managed to reattach his arm at first. Soon, however, a bad infection set in, and they were forced to remove it for good. It wasn’t until sometime later that reality set in and the drummer came to the realization that things were going to be very different for him moving forward. “Then everything started coming back in terms of what had happened, and that’s when I didn’t want to do this anymore,” Allen said. “I felt defeated, self-conscious, wanted to just disappear. But my family, friends and hundreds of thousands of letters from all over the planet put me in a different head-space. I discovered the power of the human spirit. And that was a springboard into where I am now.”

While such an incident might have crushed the spirit of most people, Allen now reflects on this horrific accident as, amazingly enough, a good thing, and that should serve as an inspiration for all of us. “I shouldn’t have survived that,” he said. “But something lifted me up. It was almost like a sort of higher power decided that it wasn’t my time, that I needed to go back. I know it sounds weird, and it was horrible when it first happened, but now it’s become quite a blessing. Like they say, if it doesn’t kill you, it makes you stronger.”

Photos: Rick Allen

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