Drake White Collapsed During Live Performance Due to a Life-Threatening Brain Disorder

Oftentimes, we brush off a headache and if it tends to become unbearable, we pop a painkiller or sleep through it, hoping it’ll be gone when we wake up.

However, there are times when we should not disregard it as something unimportant or common. Just take a look at country singer Drake White, who almost collapsed in a Roanoke, Virginia-performance and had to be rushed to the hospital. What does it have to do with a simple headache?

The country singer almost collapsed during his performance

Drake was just 15 minutes into his set when he started stumbling. Luckily, his bandmate managed to catch him before he hit the floor and ended up with a major concussion.

Later, the singer assured his fans that he was okay and apologized for cutting the show shorter than it was supposed to be. The 35-year-old now revealed that he has arteriovenous malformation that was actually diagnosed in January.

Starting with a Headache

The rare brain disorder started with a headache one winter in his hometown, Nashville. Drake narrated that he just finished a workout and a lunch meeting when a severe headache struck him.

He also recounted that he saw tiny spots in his left eye and noticed that the left side of his body had gone numb. Just as what most of us would do, the crooner slept it off, hoping that some rest would shake it away.

Drake White and wife Alex immediately went to the emergency room after the severe headache

But when he woke up, the headache was still as intense as the night before. Drake and wife Alex didn’t take any chances and immediately headed to the ER.

Fortunately, the Livin’ the Dream singer had found his AVM just before it went into making more troubles, although he may have had it since birth.

However, he said that doctors weren’t sure about what was happening to him, so they had to wait for MRI and angiogram results before finding out the cause behind the painful headaches.

The disorder occurs due to an abnormality where veins and arteries get tangled, cutting off the blood flow to the brain and other parts of the body.

‘Big Ball of Spaghetti’

As for Drake, he said that the bundle of veins is the size of a “large ice cream cone” located on the back of his brain, which causes numbing on the left side of his head.

His doctor, Nashville neurosurgeon Robert Mericle, described AMV as a “big ball of spaghetti” that takes away the blood from the brain. Going back, the expert said there are times when it resembles just a normal headache but there are moments when it is more than that.

An indication that you need to get it checked is when you feel something new or different with the headache you’re experiencing because it could mean a lot of things. You may have AVM like Drake, a tumor, or an aneurysm. So how will the treatment go?

Treatment Options

The doctor said that those who have this condition usually undergo several surgeries to detangle the mass and continue to have follow-ups in the years after the procedures in order to make sure that the entire mass is gone.

However, for the celebrity, his AVM was quite big that although he had already undergone four embolization medical operations, the doctor said they have just “knocked out” 75 percent of it.

Drake had already undergone four surgeries

Other means of eliminating the AVM include the stereotactic radiosurgery wherein radiation is used, but will only work for smaller mass. As for the case of Drake, this was definitely not applicable to him. Another option is to open the skull and remove the AMV.