Def Leppard drummer describes how he was attacked outside Florida hotel

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. - Def Leppard drummer Rick Allen says he was blindsided during an attack on him outside a South Florida hotel following a concert earlier this year.

"I heard a couple of steps and then I just saw this (flash) and the next thing I knew was I was on the ground," Allen, 59, told ABC's " Good Morning America " in an interview broadcast Monday. "I landed on my backside - hit my head on the pavement."

Def Leppard was in Fort Lauderdale to perform at the Seminole Hard Rock Hotel and Casino when he was attacked March 13 while taking a smoke break outside a hotel.

Police arrested Max Hartley, a 19-year-old from Avon, Ohio, who has pleaded not guilty to two counts of battery and four counts of criminal mischief. Police said they haven't determined a motive.

"I don't think he knew who I was, but he must have seen that I wasn't a threat because, you know, I've only got one arm," said Allen, who lost his left arm in a crash in 1984.

Allen and his wife, Lauren Monroe, told "Good Morning America" that they've been focusing on his recovery.

"My heart just completely sank into me. I know the journey of trauma. Everything stopped in our house and focused on him," Monroe said.

Allen and his bandmates performed Friday at a small venue in their hometown of Sheffield, England, before kicking off their European tour.