im pretty sure that he injured his toe, and the toe eventually became cancerous. he refused to have the toe amputated because in rastafarian beliefs, if you cut off a part of your body in this world, your whole self will not pass on [i think, correct me if im wrong]. the body has to be whole at death. so the cancer eventually spread and caused his death.
it wasnt cancer, it went gangreen -edit - unless gangreen is some super crazy form of cancer, i think its jsut a bacterial infection/mold
I'm sorry, I totally disagree, that was retarded way to go out. Thats like those people that refuse to take medicine when they get chicken pox or the flu or something, then they die...but I guess you gotta do what you gotta do..... also, everybody knows the self and the body are seperate
At the end of the 1978 European tour Marley and the band went to America. Bob played two shows at Madison Square Garden but, immediately afterwards, was taken seriously ill. Three years earlier, in London, Bob hurt a toe while playing football (soccer). The wound had become cancerous and was belatedly treated in Miami, yet it continued to fester. By 1980 the cancer, in its most virulent form, had begun to spread through Marley's body. He fought the disease for eight months, taking treatment at the clinic of Dr. Joseph Issels in Bavaria. Issels' treatment was controversial and non-toxic and, for a time anyway, Bob's condition seemed to stabilise. Eventually, however, the battle proved too much. At the start of May, Bob Marley left Germany for his Jamaican home, a journey he did not complete. He died in a Miami hospital on Monday May 11, 1981.
he cut his toe on rusty metal while playing soccer and never had it properly treated, he eventually died from an infection that developed
In July 1977, Marley was found to have a wound on his right big toe, which he thought was from a soccer injury. The wound would not completely heal, and his toenail later fell off during a soccer game. It was then that the correct diagnosis was made. Marley actually had a form of skin cancer, malignan melanoma, which grew under his toenail. He was advised to get his toe amputated, but he refused because of the Rastafarian belief that doctors are samfai, confidence men who cheat the gullible by pretending to have the power of witchcraft. He also was concerned about the impact the operation would have on his dancing; amputation would profoundly affect his career at a time when greater success was close at hand. Still, Marley based this refusal on his Rastafarian beliefs, saying, "Rasta no abide amputation. I and I don't allow a mon ta be dismantled." [Catch a Fire, Timothy White] He did have surgery to try to excise the cancer cells. The cancer was kept a secret from the wider public. The cancer spread to his brain, his lungs and his stomach. While on tour in the summer of 1980 trying to break into the US market, he collapsed jogging in NYC's Central Park. This was after a series of shows in England and at Madison Square Garden. The illness made him unable to continue with the large tour planned. Marley sought help, and decided to go to Munich in order to receive treatment from controversial cancer specialist Josef Issels for several months, but it was to no avail. A month before his death, he was awarded Jamaica's Order of Merit. He wanted to spend his final days in Jamaica but he became too ill on the flight home from Germany and had to land in Miami. He passed away at Cedars of Lebanon Hospital in Miami, Florida on May 11, 1981. His funeral in Jamaica was a dignified affair with combined elements of Ethiopian Orthodoxy and Rastafari. He is buried in a crypt at Nine Miles, near his birthplace.
For some reason, I don't beleieve that's the way it was. He was too politically spoken. I think they had to keep him down... But, according to the official record, he dies of cancer that spread from his toe, like was said earlier on.
http://ask.yahoo.com/ask/20031013.html Dear Yahoo!: What exactly did Bob Marley die from? Brad Woodhaven, Michigan Dear Brad: The charismatic, beloved Jamaican singer who introduced reggae infused with Rastafarian themes died from a cancerous brain tumor on May 11, 1981, in Miami, Florida. He was only 36 years old. Born on February 6, 1945, to an English father and a Jamaican mother, Robert Nesta Marley grew up in Trenchtown, an impoverished yet comfortable community near Kingston. Along with Peter Tosh, Bunny Livingston, and a few others, Marley went on to form the Wailers in 1964. By the '70s, the group was an international success. The first indication that something was amiss with Marley's health came in May of 1977. While on tour in France, Marley re-injured a right toe during a soccer game. The injury refused to heal and instead quickly worsened -- the entire nail came off and doctors recommended amputation. Citing religious beliefs, a limping Marley refused the surgery and gamely continued on tour. Later that summer, Marley finally allowed an orthopedic surgeon to perform a skin graft on the toe, and the procedure was deemed "a success." In September of 1980, a weakened Marley almost fainted onstage while performing in New York. The next day, he collapsed while jogging in Central Park. Marley was diagnosed with a brain tumor (a result of the untreated cancer in his toe) and given less than a month to live. Despite the grim news, Marley played one final show in Pittsburgh before being flown to Miami. There doctors verified that the singer had cancer in the brain, lung, and stomach. Eight months later, Marley passed away. Marley's death was the cause for much rumor and speculation. Some credited his survival for so long despite the widespread cancer to his marijuana use, while others have attributed his death to nefarious causes.
