Jimmy Carr Was ‘Very Close to Death’ from Meningitis as a Child

The UK comic shared that his earliest memory is getting treated for the disease

Comedian Jimmy Carr shared that he almost died as a child from meningitis — and that his experience with the disease is his earliest memory.

“My first memory is a lumbar puncture in [the Irish city of] Limerick,” Carr, 51, told host Kathy Burke on her podcast, Where There’s a Will, There’s a Wake, a darkly comedic podcast where guests plan their final day on earth.

The comic said he was around 3 years old, and he was “very, very close to death.”

As the Mayo Clinic explains, meningitis is an infection and inflammation of the “menges” — the membranes surrounding the brain and spinal cord.

It’s usually caused by a viral infection, but some bacteria, fungi, and parasites can cause meningitis, which is marked by a sudden fever, stiff neck, severe headache, and other flu-like symptoms.

A lumbar puncture — also known as a spinal tap — can be used to diagnose meningitis, the Mayo Clinic says. During the procedure, a needle is inserted between two vertebrae to collect a sample of cerebrospinal fluid.

“The doctor sort of went, ‘This is going to be very, very painful,” Carr, known in the US for his appearances on the Comedy Central Roast series, recalled.

Carr said, “I went, ‘You’ve got to be cruel to be kind’ in a little child’s voice,” sharing that somehow he’d heard the phrase before.

“I find that very moving,” Burke said.

“I kind of appreciated that thing of life," Carr continued, "because I was always told, ‘Oh, you nearly didn’t make it.’”

The comic, who appears in a new Netflix special, Natural Born Killer, also added that his off-the-cuff comment was “the first thing that I ever said that my mother thought was funny.”

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“Cruel to be kind, coming out of a three-year-old?” he said. “Brilliant.”

As the Centers for Disease Control says, children under age 5 have a higher risk of getting the disease, and while most cases of viral meningitis resolve on their own, “bacterial meningitis is usually severe and can cause serious complications, such as brain damage, hearing loss, or learning disabilities.”

Related: Legendary Guitarist Jeff Beck Dead of Bacterial Meningitis at 78

Last month, the CDC sent out an alert about a rise in cases of bacterial meningitis and recommended healthcare providers “have a heightened suspicion” for meningitis among disproportionately affected individuals.

That includes “people ages 30–60 years (65%), Black or African American people (63%), and people with HIV (15%).”

The agency also advises everyone, including those with HIV, to be “up to date on their meningococcal vaccines,” which is generally give between the ages of 11 and 12.

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