Gary Numan’s wife Gemma has been left paralysed after a routine operation months after death of singer’s brother
09:42, 13 Feb 2026Updated 14:41, 13 Feb 2026
(Image: Getty Images Europe)
Gary Numan’s wife Gemma has revealed she’s been left paralysed in one arm following surgery to treat a herniated disc.
The sad news comes just months after the death of Gary’s brother, with the singer being told the news while he was performing on stage last year.
In the latest blow to the couple, Gemma, 57, shared her health update on Instagram on Thursday alongside a photo of herself and music icon Gary, 67, taking a stroll through Kew Gardens.
“Still recovering [from] the sadder outcome of left arm paralysis after my multi-level discectomy”, Gemma wrote of the operation that took place at the end of last year.
Paralysis is a rare complication of the operation but can be a risk due to the proximity to the spinal cord or nerve roots.
In another post showing her laid up in bed, Gemma revealed the paralysis struck immediately after the operation on her cervical spine on 11 December.
“Paralysed left arm straight away! It’s one of the sad things that can happen,” she added.
Gary Numan’s wife Gemma has opened up about her health woes(Image: ITV)
Gemma’s agony over her situation has only been made more heartbreaking by the fact she is left-handed. She said she had bought a small travel paint kit to cheer herself up but was left in tears when she found she couldn’t use it.
“Get back, cried and realised I can’t use it cos I’m left handed,’ she wrote. “So I tried by turning the paper round all the time! It’s s*** but that’s with my lead hand which is now not really working with any control.”
Gemma has spent years suffering chronic neck pain and migraines and she underwent an operation last year to make her more comfortable.
Gemma shared photos of her recovering in hospital(Image: gemma_numan/instagram)
Gary has been supporting his wife in the UK(Image: Andrew Milligan/REX/Shutterstock)
Gemma said she was still coming to terms with life after the surgery and has been unable to travel home to California. “Still recovering the sadder outcome of left arm paralysis after my multi level discectomy! Gutted!” she told her followers.
Revealing she’s not been home in five months, Gemma added: “I’ve not been home since the 9 the sep! I miss my animals so much it makes feel sick! I’ve seen my babies! Gary has looked after me here in the UK the whole time ! And I face time babies! But animals are just missed,” she wrote on Instagram.
Thanking her friends who are taking care of pets, Gemma added: “No one can ever understand how sh*t it is and not glamorous plus my health sh*t. My animals have lost months with me! More like me with them! And I still have to have another op! Third since August,” she shared.
Gary’s brother died at the weekend(Image: Getty Images)
Gemma had been a superfan of Gary’s and they were introduced after she would wait for him after gigs and write letters to his fan club.
The pair married in 1997 and share three children together. They decamped from Britain in 2012 and now live in Los Angeles, in a house which was built in the Nineties but modelled on a medieval castle.
Over the last few months they have endured a horrific few months in their personal lives. As well as Gemma’s health issues, Gary was left heartbroken by the death of his young brother. He received the news while on stage during his tour last November.
The music veteran’s younger sibling collapsed in the early hours of the morning – after the brothers had spent the evening catching up -and passed away in hospital hours later.
Numan, 67, considered scrapping the rest of his shows after breaking down on stage in Birmingham, UK when he returned to performing just hours after receiving the sad news but he’s now changed his mind and promised to continue the tour.
In a post on Instagram, he explained: “The last two days have been the hardest of my life. This is why. My brother John died suddenly in the early hours of Saturday morning in Leeds, he was just 60 years old. He had spent the evening with me at my Telekon show, catching up, swapping stories … just as much as we could squeeze in in the time we had.
“We were just enjoying being together again as we see each other so rarely these days. We talked for hours before and after the show but, eventually, I had to leave as we had another show in Birmingham later that night.
“I hugged him at the door of our tour bus, I think it was about 12:20am, asked him how far he had to walk to get to his car (I always worried about him walking the streets at night), it was not far apparently, we said goodbye and I watched him walk away.
“Sadly he never made it to his car, betrayed by his own heart. It will haunt me forever that we may have driven off not knowing that he was lying in a rainy street just yards away. Luckily a kind person saw him and called an ambulance, but it was too late.”
Numan went on to add: “This is not a tribute to John, I can barely think straight enough to find the words for this let alone a fitting and deserving tribute to someone I loved more than the world, those words will come in time. This is to explain why I’m struggling.
“We are continuing with the tour because my Dad thinks I should, because John’s lovely wife said John would want me to.
“I have no capacity at the moment to make decisions of any kind. I’m drifting, broken, shell shocked, just watching one foot fall in front of the other.
” The emotion overwhelms and then backs away, it screams and then whispers.”
He wrote: “This is the worst moment of my life and I have no idea what to do, other than to continue doing the only thing I know how to do, the thing John was always so proud of.
“He loved Telekon. He was only 15 when I made it. So this tour is no longer a celebration of an album, it’s a tribute to John, my brother, the best brother a man could ever have.”