Bob Marley 40 Years After Death Personal Doctor Suspects Foul Play

Today (May 11th) marks 40 years since Bob Marley’s death, and to this day, his legacy still lives on in the hearts of his many fans across the globe. His impact was so great that, to date, he still has one of the best-selling albums of all time. His greatest hits compilation, Legend, which was released in 1984, has sold over 11 million copies in the U.S. and has spent nearly 300 weeks on the Billboard 200.

Bob Marley died of acral lentiginous melanoma on May 11, 1981, after being diagnosed in 1977. At the time of his death and for many years after, many fans believed that he was purposefully injected with cancer. It’s a theory that many fervent fans still believe. A recent interview that his personal physician, Dr. Carlton “Pee Wee” Fraser, had with Jamaica Observer may lend some credence to their theory.

He believes that Bob Marley may have been injected with the disease a little while after the assassination attempt at Hope Road. In fact, he added that he believed he is aware of the method of delivery. Most people believe that Marley’s woes started after a football injury but Dr Fraser believes differently. He believes that Marley’s troubles all started with the gift of a pair of sneakers. “After the attempt to murder him at Hope Road when he was shot, Bob retreated to the hills. A few days later he was given a pair of sneakers. When he tried it on a needle went into his big toe and it was so hard to get it out. He then went on tour and when he was in London the toe got worse and it was said they would have to amputate the leg at the hip,” he said. When this was told to Bob Marley, he insisted that he speak with his own doctor. Dr. Fraser then began researching different techniques that would not require amputation. That’s just one of the reasons that he believes the reggae icon might have been deliberately infected. He shared another instance later in Marley’s life that he thinks led to his final diagnosis. He explained that after the procedure, Bob Marley went back on tour but began to have very strange maladies like nose bleeds and headaches. This was when he was told that cancer from his toe had spread throughout his body. He said he was in disbelief at this point because “we had done all the technical scans and X-rays to make sure there was no evidence of cancer in his toe. According to him, “they definitely know what they did.”