Farrokh Bulsara, better known as Freddie Mercury, died at the age of 45 on November 24, 1991. If the cause of his death is known to everyone, a detail seems to have been forgotten by history.
Legendary, mythical, iconic. And immortal, despite his disappearance on the evening of November 24, 1991. Freddie Mercury left an indelible mark on the vast universe of music and his unique voice continues, more than 30 years after his death, to resonate all over the world. If Freddie Mercury’s voice is what made him famous, the Queen singer’s personality also contributed to the myth, as well as his heartbreaking story to his last breaths. Indeed, according to an excerpt from the book published by his last companion, Jim Hutton, the death of Freddie Mercury proved to be particularly difficult, largely because his state of health deteriorated over several years due to AIDS. In the book Mercury and MeJim Hutton, however, shares a detail that has not been mentioned anywhere else, not even in the report of the doctor who found the death of the singer.
A mysterious fracture
In a relationship with Freddie Mercury since 1985, Jim Hutton published in 1995 the book Mercury and Mewhich returns to the seven years that the two men spent together, until being separated by the death of Freddie Mercury. In this book, the man Freddie Mercury called “her husband” tells precisely his version of his companion’s last hours, in which he describes an incident that could be the cause of death. According to an excerpt, “Freddie woke up at 6am and whispered what would become his last words: “pee!”. He wanted me to help him go to the bathroom. He looked terribly weak and I had to carry him. As I put him back on his bed, I heard a horrible creak. It looked like one of Freddie’s bones had just snapped like the branch of a tree. He screamed in pain and started to convulse“.
This unintentional incident could have a crucial importance in the death of Freddie Mercury, and this because of the events that followed. In his book, Jim Hutton explains that he then called Joe Fanelli, an ex-boyfriend, to help calm Freddie during his seizures – a task that turned out to be difficult. “Joe told Freddie to calm down, then one of Freddie’s hands grabbed Joe by the throat. It was like a man drowning and suffocating. Joe eventually broke free and Freddie calmed down Exhausted, he then fell asleep“. Unfortunately at this time, Freddie had not just fallen into a deep restful sleep, but slipped into a coma.
The official cause of death of Freddie Mercury
Peter Freestone, Freddie Mercury’s personal assistant and friendjoined Jim Hutton and Joe Fanelli shortly after being called up by Joe. “He sounded very anxious on the phone and he told me to come straight away. I didn’t have the courage to ask if Freddie was dead. When I got to his room he was in a coma. He had had a fit of muscle rigidity and he was lying very stiff, with his head at an odd angle and his eyes fixed on a corner of the room behind him.There was no indication that he was aware of our presence, even if we tried to talk to him and shake him gently”.
According to some theories, it was the fracture of his bone, unintentionally caused by Jim Hutton, which would have led to a violent reaction from the body of Freddie Mercury. This reaction, which materialized in the form of an attack of muscle crisis, would then have exhausted the singer’s body and precipitated his plunge into a coma, then his death. It is indeed shortly after, the evening of the same day, that the death of Freddie Mercury was pronounced. On his death certificate however, the official cause of death is pneumonia caused by the AIDS virusfrom which Freddie Mercury suffered for several years.
If the mystery remains around the death of this mythical personality, it is because the famous broken bone mentioned by Jim Hutton in his book does not appear anywhere else. Neither in the doctor’s report nor in his autopsy. He was also not mentioned by Joe Fanelli and Peter Freestone. Jim Hutton having been the only one present in Freddie’s room when it happened, he is the only one who can decide on this injury that could have become the catalyst for the death of the singer. The theories which state that it was because of this fracture that Freddie Mercury fell into a coma explain that the singer’s companion would have wanted to take the lead in case this detail ends up coming out – and that he is accused of precipitating Freddie’s death. Be that as it may, Freddie Mercury was already seriously ill since he had started to have symptoms of HIV in 1982 and was then diagnosed with AIDS in 1987. He fought for many years before dying at home, surrounded by his loved ones: his companion Jim Hutton, his friend Peter Freestone, his ex Joe Fanelli and his ex-wife and best friend Mary Austin.