Inspiral Carpets Drummer Killed Himself After 20 Years of 'Unbearable' Tinnitus

Inspiral Carpets drummer killed himself after 20 years of 'unbearable' tinnitus
Wife of Manchester musician Craig Gill tells inquest her husband had long suffered from sleep deprivation and anxiety due to ear condition


The surviving members of the Inspiral Carpets, Graham Lambert, Stephen Holt, and Clint Boon, make a statement outside the Phoenix Centre in Heywood, in tribute to their late drummer.

The wife of the Inspiral Carpets drummer Craig Gill says there needs to be a greater awareness of the devastating effects of tinnitus after an inquest into his death returned an open verdict.

Rose Marie Gill issued a statement about the condition after an inquest into her husband’s death heard how the only concern he had in his life was the tinnitus he had had for more than 20 years.

Gill told a coroner how she discovered her 44-year-old husband dead at their home in Greenfield, Greater Manchester, after returning with their children from a day out.

She explained how her husband’s death had baffled everyone who knew him as he did not appear to have any concerns except for the severe tinnitus as result of his involvement in the music business.

She told the inquest in Heywood, Greater Manchester, that her husband had no history of depression or suicidal thoughts. “That’s what’s shocking about it. I have no idea where this has come from,” she told the senior coroner for north Manchester, Joanne Kearsley.

In a statement issued after the hearing, she said her husband’s tinnitus became “so unbearable he felt there was no cure” and urged more awareness of the problem and men’s mental health.

She said in the statement: “Instead of reaching out, on that day in November, Craig made the saddest and most tragic of decisions.”

Mrs Gill said: “For the past 20 years, Craig suffered from debilitating tinnitus, a condition caused by not protecting his hearing when enjoying the careers he loved the most - a successful musician, DJ and love of listening to music.

“His condition affected his day-to-day wellbeing and he suffered in silence with both sleep deprivation and anxiety.”

Gill said: “Although we struggle with the day-to-day existence of life without Craig, we are now able to discuss and promote awareness of tinnitus and men’s mental health. It takes courage for men to speak out, to talk to one another, to share their thoughts and their fears.

“If you are one of those men, like Craig, we urge you to reach out to those you love and find comfort in sharing your pain.”

Inspiral Carpets members Graham Lambert, Stephen Holt and Clint Boon attended the inquest. Boon read a statement from the band which said: “We will always remember Craig for his great sense of humour, his passion for music, his incredible skills as a musician and his devotion to his family.

“Craig was a friend, a loyal son and brother, philosophical father and important member of our gang. We feel extremely privileged to have spent the last 30 years making music with him.”

Earlier Mrs Gill had told the inquest how the whole family had set off early in the morning on Sunday 18 November last year and travelled to Media City, in Salford, to watch the recording of a children’s TV Christmas special.

She said that after they arrived at the studios, her husband said it was not something he really wanted to do and they decided he would go home. She said she thought this was perfectly normal behaviour as most men would not want to spend a day watching a children’s show in Christmas jumpers.

Gill described how she spoke to her husband on the phone during the day but he was not at the station to meet them. She said she and the children walked the short distance home, where she made the terrible discovery.

DI Ian Harratt said a police investigation had shown no sign of any disturbance at the house but also found no suicide note.

Harratt told the coroner: “There was nothing in the information we have received that this was premeditated or preplanned. It appears to me that this is something that was completely out of the blue. It was something that took everybody who knew Mr Gill completely by surprise.”

The coroner told Gill it was clear her husband was responsible for taking his own life but she could not record a conclusion of suicide because she could not be sure, to the criminal standard of proof, that he had intended to kill himself.

Recording an open conclusion, Kearsley said she was sorry she could not offer the family an explanation for what happened.

Gill was a founding member of the Inspiral Carpets and played with the band throughout their heyday in the 1990s, returning when the band reformed 20 years later to tour and record their self-titled album in 2014.

In the UK, the Samaritans can be contacted on 116 123. In the US, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline is 1-800-273-8255. In Australia, the crisis support service Lifeline is on 13 11 14.

Source:
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2017/may/05/inspiral-carpets-drummer-craig-gill-inquest-tinnitus

 

Someone mentioned Noel/Liam Gallagher in another thread here. I know that one of them used be a roadie for Inspiral Carpets and now they have both have tinnitus so maybe this will urge them into spreading some awareness or at least protecting their own ears when Oasis inevitably reform.

 

Very tragic.

 

I saw this but did not want to post it as it may cause distress to some members.

Please remember to pick up the phone and talk if you need to. That call can keep your head above the water. Anyone is free to PM me anytime if they're in despair and I know other members who are just as open to helping in any way they can. They've certainly helped me.

 

I'm a big Oasis fan, didn't listen to too much Inspiral Carpets... But very tragic

 

If he was dealing with it for 20 years I would think it was something else that lead him too his final decision.
Tragic news indeed. Both Liam and Noel suffer with tinnitus, Liam said publicly he has it and is proud of it, even said "you're not a rock n roller unless your ears are ringing" daft, but what would you expect from a man that calls his dog bastard lol
When asked about Noels condition he said "well he obviously has nothing better too do" when Noel was seeking medical support for tinnitus.

More to this story that we do not know.

 

They wouldn't understand the pain. As long as they cannot see this "invisible" impairment. "He looks normal, it can be that bad." Or "Since he committed suicide he had other issues except tinnitus, such us depression etc." or "It can be that loud, you just focus too much on it" and all these nonsense. My friends the world has to cut the crap and recognize the severity of this affliction and stop consider it as a mental issue. Another man died literally by it. Tinnitus was forged in hell. It can kill even the stronger and the most intelligent person by unimaginable torture. People have to accept and recognize how serious this can be, yet people aren't even aware of it's existence. I wasn't. F...k my life.

 

My friend I disagree. It may mean that he did his best. In the end he surrendered. We have to stop conceal the true offender due to our own fear of accepting the fact that Tinnitus can get that bad. No irrelevant cormobidities. We have to spread the word. Period.

 

This is terribly sad.

 

So sad to hear.
Let's hope a cure for at least noise related tinnitus or virus related tinnitus becomes a reality in our life time.
Support for the unwanted emotions of tinnitus needs to be fast with CBT while await seeing Audiology that could be months away.
I strongly believe that support from early onset would save lives and not feel so alone.

Tinnitus Talk and Tinnitus Hub with round the clock support and the BTA and ATA. need more promoting by the medical profession and not the learn to live with it approach .
That is harsh but true but lots of help and support is available and its knowing how to find them.
Tinnitus Talk is outstanding in its support and information and needs to be more recognized in the UK and world wide.
What you learn on here tops any other support other than hearing aids and maskers and I'm sure saved many lives over the years.
Love glynis

 

im not sure talking about any of this is helpful.

 

Can you imagine Liam Gallagher raising awareness for tinnitus?

He's habituated , but for how long? Get better luck trying to get Chris Martin or Ryan Adams to speak out about it.

Chris Martin uses maskers, watched a video of him before showing them off.

 

And if not a cure, at least a drug that effectively could control/lower the symptom. For every type of tinnitus.
That would be realistic with invested research.

The learn to live with it approach is an unacceptable crime.

In the forum no. We didn't learn something that we didn't know. In the general public it would be.

 

If we do not talk about this how do we stop it?

If we do speak about this it brings out those who are seeking attention and not serious and start posts with suicidal words. It brings about a frenzy of mental cases and such.

And this takes away from the one's who remain silent about their despair and pain. Many are not on the internet support boards.

I have witnessed this first hand with a friend. The details are too brutal to write in public. I tried years ago to bring about awareness to this. I was treated with being shamed. As a survivor of suicide it took years to overcome my guilt, shame and blame. It took years to find the memory fading away.

The blame was always put to this sentence: "He had mental issues. He had medical issues. It wasn't the tinnitus."

Even it that was partly true. In the last moment his last words to me were "I can't think the tinnitus is screaming"
And then he pulled the trigger. So it was in a nano second of time when one has a hesitation moment....the tinnitus screaming so loudly keeps that person from being able to live. They cannot hear the moment of hesitation. The despair overcomes so deeply...

I am sure this is what happened to Craig Gills. He was unable to fully understand what this would do to his family and friends.

And now I am in remain self induced isolation. Silent and closed off from getting involved.

Families are unable to discuss it publicly. They fade into non existence over a few years. The story is forgotten. Their friends have no mercy for the suicide victim. So the family and friends are unable to express love. Only hate for the suicide person is allowed.

That is my experience from years in a real life survivor of suicide support group. A group of people who lost a loved one. A son or daughter. A father or mother. A husband or wife. A friend. Some people escaped. Some never were able to move on with life.

The horror left behind cannot be described.

It is not the answer but those in that type of misery and pain despite their different life situations are unable to grasp this in that nano second of time when the decision may change.

But of course the message will always be: IT WAS NOT BECAUSE OF TINNITUS.

 

I would often fall into rabbit-holes of despair, sometimes for a few days at a time where the knowledge that this was probably for evermore just felt too much to live with. I also became very good at appearing to be OK because I realized that even those closest to me truly didn't get it, and didn't really want to hear about it. I felt like a drain on others on top of the distress of the disease itself. A few times I drove home from work and lined up that big truck heading toward me and thought "that's all I have to do". It wasn't rational, but it would have been impulsive and I'm sure everyone would say how I seemed to be doing fine and what a shock it was. I'm not down there anymore, but I do now understand how one can be brought to that brink, and how one can nurse the idea of topping oneself while still appearing to be going along fine outwardly.

 

I wasn't aware a suicide note was a requirement.

 

The way I see this , he should have stopped playing at the first signs of T and not make it worse while it's still in the bearable stage.

There is no passion or job that should take over ones physical health and our ears simply haven't been designed to sustain that level of noise exposure even though a few may be lucky and suffer no damage

 

I'm somewhat jealous of people that had mild tinnitus before and had warning signs.

What do you mean by self induced isolation. I just ask because this means very different things for different people. I'm rather isolated too.

 

I heard about tinnitus before I got it, but I imagined that the damage is somewhat gradual, slow.

That when you go clubbing every day for years, you will begin to have problems with understanding people speak, or maybe get a some tiny little bit of ringing that might get worse if you keep going to clubs many times a year.

Ironically, except for an odd night-out I would be very cautious about sound levels I'm exposed to. I didn't want to go deaf at 60 (LOL).

I've never thought 1 night out can permanently change your life.




EDIT: Or maybe I knew, but I lied to myself. Anyhow, such is life.

 

Sad to read that the Inspiral Carpets drummer may well have taken his life due to T.
Listened to this band a lot back in the day.
Just goes to show that you never know what anyone is going through.
Glad that places like Tinnitus Talk exist to share worries and learn of things that may help stop life spiralling out of control.
Stay positive you all....however challenging
Better days are coming for us all.
Wishing you all peace.
X



http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-4477730/Inspiral-Carpets-drummer-44-hanging-home.html

 

It's really sad to see and read the sad stories of fellow tinnitus sufferers taking there own lives because they can no longer live with this awful condition. I hope and pray there is some kind of medication soon that we can take to alleviate the suffering that we are all going through.

 

BBC just ran this story on their facebook page and there are some interesting comments if anyone's interested/wants to contribute.

 

I believe that unless a suicide note is found, suicide can not be declared as the cause of death, even if it is the most likely cause.

 

I guess that would then be the source of the "0pen finding" principle.

 

I wonder how Metallica or AC/DC members deal with their loud tinnitus because their tinnitus must be fucking loud.

Also... a band related to Inspiral Carpets... Oasis, both brothers HAVE loud tinnitus and they seem to manage well...

 

How do you know the Gallaghers have loud t? Never heard them mention loudness.

 

I definitely know one of them does...forgot which one but I heard him (?) mention it on a radio interview when he first got it.

 

"I just talk really loudly over it." is what Liam said... must be really loud...

 

@Sam Bridge there you go...

 

Oh yeah case closed, he has loud tinnitus, no question. Are you actually serious, or are you just coming off as a serious idiot for the fun of it? Maybe he has very minor tinnitus due to the fact that he can mask it with his own voice? This kind of speculation and ignorance is what keeps me from visiting this site anymore. You were dropped on your head as a baby? Is that where your T came from ?