‘I’d load up my van, drive to the gig and do backstage dialysis’: The Voice UK star Adam Isaacs details juggling gig with medical treatment amid battle with kidney failure
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The Voice UK star Adam Isaacs has detailed how he combines having dialysis with his music career amid his battle with severe kidney failure.
The 39-year-old singer rose to fame during the singing competition in 2012, where he was mentored by Sir Tom Jones before reaching the show’s finale.
And while Adam has continued to perform, things are very different for him these days, as he juggles his ongoing medical treatment with his performances, while he waits for a kidney transplant.
What makes it work: The Voice UK star Adam Isaacs has detailed how he combines having dialysis with his music career amid his battle with severe kidney failure
In a new interview with the mirrorAdam opened up when he was first diagnosed with the disease, initially assuming it was eczema because of the dry itchy skin he’d developed five years earlier.
But at the end of 2020, he was taken to hospital with crippling headaches and fatigue as doctors began to diagnose IgA nephropathy — a disease that occurs when antibodies build up on the kidneys and cause inflammation that can damage them.
Adam’s kidneys were severely scarred and functioning at only 8% of their normal capacity.
TV appearance: The singer, 39, rose to fame during the 2012 singing competition where he was mentored by Sir Tom Jones before reaching the show’s finale
The artist explained the ordeal in detail: “I heard a young doctor say it looked like I needed dialysis and a transplant. My blood pressure was so high that I would be at risk of a stroke if I continued like this.’
After spending 10 days in the hospital, Chris was released over Christmas and over the next few months began peritoneal dialysis, while continuing to perform across the country.
On balancing his treatment with his music career, he said, “I’d load up my van, drive to the gig, and do backstage dialysis. At the Epsom Derby I did it in my van, played a few sets and then did it behind a bar.”
Fighting through: Although Adam has continued to perform, things are very different for him these days as he juggles his ongoing medical treatment with his performances, while he waits for a kidney transplant (photo in July)
And while the routine seems to be working, there was a moment when things got dangerous for the former TV personality when he was struck with crippling stomach aches on his way home from a performance with wife Lucy.
He said: ‘We went to the services in Bristol. I lay on my side on the grass verge for two hours, waiting for an ambulance. The pain was terrible.
‘I had the infection peritonitis. They tried to flush the line with antibiotics, but it didn’t work. They had to pull it out and put a hemodialysis line in my neck.”
Artist: About balancing his treatment with his music career, he said, ‘I would load up my van, drive to the gig and do dialysis backstage. At the Epsom Derby I did it in my van, played a few sets and then did it behind a bar’
Despite this latest health scare, Adam continued to perform next to the hospital for dialysis three times a week.
Adam enjoyed great success on the singing show, impressing Tom and fellow judges Jessie J, Will.i.am, Danny O’ Donoghue.
The inaugural series, which featured singer Becky Hill, was ultimately won by Leanne Mitchell.