Bassist ruptures testicle on stage, continues to play

Delain's Otto Schimmelpenninck speaks of ordeal

10:00 3rd December 2014

In one of the more gruesome but strangely heroic stories of the year, a heavy metal bassist is recovering in hospital after rupturing a testicle live on stage. The heroic part? He continued to play. Watch the incident below (if you must).

Metal rockers Delain were performing a show in Birmingham last week, when bassist Otto Schimmelpenninck suffered somewhat of a mishap. He was hit in the back of the genitals by a streamer cannon - before his scrotum grew to 'the size of a grapefruit'.

He was taken to hospital where he had 500ml of blood from his scrotum and had his ruptured testicle stitched up. Luckily, he seems to be on the mend and may not lose his testicle as once feared.

He then took to Facebook to detail the highly unfortunate ordeal:

"After what can be described as one of the most unpleasant adventures I've ever had to endure, we're back home again from the UK. As a lot of people are asking about my injuries and lots of friends know what happened already, I figured it would be best to share with you all. before all kinds of versions of this story start to circulate. Spoiler alert: you might want to read this another time if you were planning on having sex within the hour or so

"As some of you know, we use 'streamer canons', which shoot silver streamers into the audience, usually during The Gathering. We've been using this for ages without any problems at all, but in Birmingham things went wrong."

"Since we were with 6 on stage instead of 5, there wasn't really a standard position on stage. Normally, Charlotte would be stage center, Timo at the singing mic, I at the other side. Having Merel on stage with us meant everyone just had to pay attention at the moment the streamers would shoot. In my enthusiasm I did not pay attention, and happened to be VERY close when the streamer fired. It hit me from the back, in my genitals. Although pain was pretty bad right away, I was merely pissed off at myself for not paying attention. During the next song, pain got worse though, and I had the feeling I was bleeding. Pretty soon pain got to the point where I could barely stay conscious anymore, but for some reason I did manage to finish the show and even squeeze out some grunts!

"After the show the damage was more obvious: my scrotum was the size of a big grapefruit and I was in a lot (yeah, really a lot) of pain. I was taken to the nearest hospital where after hours and hours of waiting, I was finally operated around 8:30 in the morning. It appeared here my left testicle had been ruptured as well as some arteries. More than 500 ml of blood was removed from my scrotum and my testicle stitched up. I stayed in hospital for the rest of day and night, and was discharged on Friday afternoon. From there I took the plane to Glasgow where I was reunited with my girlfriend and the Delain family. Fortunately we had had a very comfortable nightliner and top-notch driver, so I could travel quite comfortably and get some rest until we got home.

"I was very close to losing my left testicle, but chances are good it will be fine. It will take about 6 weeks until I can find out though, when I have an ultrasound scan. It will also be a while before I am without the very uncomfortable pain I am in now, but sadly, it's just the way it is for now. I should be ok well in time for the european tour with Sabaton though.

"Again, thank so much for all your get well wishes, support and kind messages, it means a lot to me!"

Watch the incident below

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Tiesto: The acclaimed DJ was forced to cancel shows a mid-gig accident at the Electro Bounce House Festival earlier this year. Some claim he passed out and some claim he fell off the stage.
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Oasis: In 1994, during a Newcastle gig, Noel Gallagher was hit in the face by a man who had jumped onto the stage. He refused to continue, the gig ended, and the band's tour bus was attacked as they drove away. What a happy story.
Otto Schimmelpenninck: The world read in horror after the Delain bassist was hit in the back of the genitals by a streamer cannon - before his scrotum grew to 'the size of a grapefruit' and his testicle was 'ruptured'. He was taken to hospital where he had 500ml of blood from his scrotum and had his ruptured testicle stitched up. Luckily, he seems to be on the mend and may not lose his testicle as once feared. We take out hats off to him, mind - he kept playing throughout.
Matt Bellamy: Muse's second (and bloody brilliant) second album Origin Of Symmetry was largely ignored in America at the time of release (due to a conflict with their record label about the falsetto in 'Plug In Baby'). So US Muse fans rejoiced when their fortunes turned and the band crossed the pond with a much more 'radio friendly' third album with Absolution. However, on the opening night of the US tour in Atlanta in 2004, Matt Bellamy smashed his face into his guitar and cut it open, claiming that he was used to arenas and not tiny club shows and lost his footing. There's a grim video of it on Youtube somewhere, featuring the now immortal line: "I'm sorry guys, I fucked up my face."
Madonna: Poor Madge. It was supposed to be her big comeback - her return to the hearts of the UK, performing new track 'Living For Love'. Decked in a cape and flanked by lads dressed as bulls and such, she soon unveiled herself in a matador before she began awkwardly walking around her bovine friends. Alas, it didn't stay a smooth performance for long as she was soon pulled to the ground and suffered some pretty shaky vocals as a result. She blamed the incident on her cape being too tight. Don't you hate it when that happens?
The Edge: No, you aren't seeing things, and no, The Edge can't levitate (although he is fond of a little ELEVATION WOOOO-OOOH). On the opening night of their Songs Of Innocence + Experience tour in Vancouver, The Edge was walking the gangway during 'Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For' before she blindly stepped right off and took one hell of a tumble. The video went viral immediately. We hope he found what he was looking for on the floor. We hope he didn't break The Joshua Knee.... We'll get out coat.

Photo: Still