47 year old Death Angel Will Carroll contracted COVID-19 in Europe on tour. Soon after his return to San Francisco he spent 12 days in a medically induced coma on a ventilator. It was touch and go, but eventually he recovered. Some of his experiences while unconsious did have an effect on his spirituality. Here’s an excerpt from the San Francisco Chronicle’s story:
“While in the coma, Carroll said he had dreams of visiting the afterlife. He saw himself leave his body and plummet down to hell, where Satan — a woman in his case — punished him for the deadly sin of sloth, morphing him into a Jabba the Hutt-like-monster who vomited blood until he had a heart attack.
“’I woke up on the hospital bed with tubes coming in and out of me, and there was a nurse right there and my first words were, “Am I still in hell?”’ Carroll said. ‘She ignored me.'”
Carroll, who celebrated his 47th birthday on Wednesday, May 13, said his near-death experience gave him a new outlook on life. He now plans on living a healthier life without hard alcohol or bong rips, though he’ll still drink the occasional hard cider and narrow his marijuana use to edibles. He also adopted a belief in a higher power; he feels the prayers from his family and friends helped him pull through.
“’I’m still going to listen to satanic metal, and I still love Deicide and bands like that,’ Carroll said. ‘As far as for my personal life and my experience of what I went through, I don’t think Satan’s quite as cool as I used to.’”
Will Carroll, drummer for Bay Area metal legends Death Angel
