Iron Maiden’s Bruce Dickinson Recalls ‘Ridiculous’ Hospital Experience

We all know that dealing with medical bills can be a huge pain, but have you ever been told to hobble down the street on crutches to get cash to pay for a procedure? Iron Maiden legend Bruce Dickinson did — and fortunately he's physically fit enough to do so.

The frontman detailed the story of his achilles injury, which occurred during one of his fencing training sessions, during a chat with Loudwire Nights.

"I was like oops, foot not connected to leg, pretty weird sensation. So I had a rapid learning curve on how to hop around on one leg, I got myself into a taxi and went home, Googled how to strap it up," he explained.

Fortunately, the vocalist was able to locate a prominent sports doctor the next day. After the MRI results came back, Dickinson was instructed that he would be receiving surgery the next morning. He checked with the office to see whether he had to make any payments upfront, and was assured by several departments that he wouldn't be held financially responsible prior to the procedure.

"So I turn up on crutches the next day, hobbling along, and she says, 'Yeah, you need to pay some money.' I said, 'They told me yesterday I didn't, but okay, fine, I've got my credit card.' She said, 'Oh well we don't take credit cards.' I said, 'Well you did yesterday.' She said, 'Well it's Saturday, it's all closed,'" the singer continued.

"I said, 'Well I'm supposed to be upstairs being operated on in an hour, this is ridiculous.' She goes, 'You're being aggressive.' I said, 'I'm not being aggressive, I am being a little bit upset because as you can see, I do have a problem with my leg, and I expect that the surgeons are waiting for me,'" he recalled.

The woman then informed Dickinson that there was a cash point down the road, in which he hobbled to on his crutches and took out the highest amount of cash that the machine allotted him.

"I did like a mile on crutches down to the cash point and back," he said laughing. "I said, 'Look, I got like $1,500 out — that's it. The card is maxed out, the bank is calling me to see if I'm fraudulent. So I'll give you that, I'll give you my passport.' She goes, 'I don't want your money. That's okay, just go straight up.'"

He believes that the surgeon found out that the woman instructed him to get cash out, and in turn, had "some choice words" with her.

To hear the full discussion with Dickinson, tune into Loudwire Nights with Toni Gonzalez tonight at 7PM ET here or by downloading the Loudwire app.