Former Venom and current Venom Inc. guitarist Jeff ‘Mantas’ Dunn is recovering from heart surgery following a major heart attack in Portugal.
The band released a statement to say that Dunn had suffered a heart attack on April 30, and momentarily died before being resuscitated. He subsequently underwent double bypass surgery in his adopted home of Lisbon.
Dunn, who co-founded black metal pioneers Venom in Newcastle in 1978, posted a lengthy explanation of what he said “easily ranks as the most terrifying experience of my life.”
“A day like any other, sun is shining and myself and Anita leave the house to drive to our next village.
“Anita needs a new inhaler so we call into the pharmacy to collect one… that is when everything changes. I start to experience what I can only describe as indigestion, but then the pain gets worse.
“I decide to go back to the car and wait but by this time the pain is unbearable. The staff of the pharmacy help me out of the car and take me back inside. An ambulance is called. On its arrival I am taken into the ambulance to be monitored and assessed. The pain is not subsiding in any way and so the the paramedics call for a doctor.
“When the doctor arrives with a nurse I am immediately hooked up to an ECG and given the news that it appears that 2 valves in my heart are blocked.
“I have been told that the paramedics and doctor fought for just over 5 minutes to bring me back… essentially I had died in the ambulance.”
Dunn went on to say that he is recuperating at home following emergency surgery.
“There have been things which have happened during these last few weeks, which I have found very hard to come to terms with but it’s getting better. There is still a way to go but I remain positive.”
Dunn formed Venom Inc. in 2014 with ex-Venom singer Tony ‘Demolition Man’ Dolan. The band released their debut album, Ave, in 2017. The band have cancelled all touring plans until August. We wish Dunn a speedy recovery.
