Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen spoke about being randomly attacked outside a Four Seasons hotel for the first time.
“I heard a couple of steps and then I just saw this [flash] and the next thing I knew was I was on the ground,” Allen said during an appearance on “Good Morning America.” “I landed on my backside … hit my head on the pavement.”
“I am no threat to you,” Allen recalled saying to the 19-year-old boy who had seemingly come out of nowhere and tackled the musician to the ground.
“I don’t think he knew who I was, but he must have seen that I wasn’t a threat because, you know, I’ve only got one arm,” Allen explained. Allen was involved in a near-fatal car crash that took his left arm in 1984.
DEF LEPPARD DRUMMER RICK ALLEN ‘FOCUSED ON HEALING’ AFTER ATTACK AT FLORIDA HOTEL
Rick Allen was attacked by a 19-year-old outside a Four Season hotel in Florida. (Getty Images)
Allen was smoking a cigarette outside the Four Seasons near the valet on March 13 when 19-year-old Max Hartley, who had reportedly been hiding behind a pole, ran at the musician and allegedly knocked him over. The fall caused Allen to hit his head on the ground, causing injury, police reported.
A woman came out to help after Allen was attacked. Hartley then allegedly attacked the unnamed woman and knocked her to the ground before repeatedly striking her. She was able to run back into the hotel, but was followed by Hartley, who allegedly grabbed the woman by her hair and dragged her outside, according to the report.
Hartley was arrested later after fleeing the area. He has been charged with two counts of battery and four counts of criminal mischief and pleaded not guilty.
Rick Allen is the drummer for Def Leppard. (Getty Images)
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Allen’s wife Lauren Monroe recalled the moment she found out about her husband’s attack while she was halfway across the country.
“My heart just completely sank into me,” Monroe explained on “Good Morning America.” “I know the journey of trauma … And so everything stopped in our house and focused on him.”
The Def Leppard drummer is thankful for his wife’s support, saying, “I immediately just went to that place of just feeling grateful for the fact that I have an amazing wife and an incredible family and I just started thanking a higher power for the fact that I’m still here.”
The 19-year-old who attacked Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen was arrested and charged. (Kevin Mazur/Getty Images For The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame)
Since the attack, Allen has focused on his drumming as he recovers and is performing in Sheffield, England, the location of the car accident that took one of his arms.
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“I know that I’m not going to be playing music in a band forever,” Allen said. “But while I am, I plan on making as many people happy as I possibly can. And this is my time. This is my opportunity.”