Karl Cochran, a guitarist and songwriter who has worked with Kiss and former Rainbow singer Joe Lynn Turner, is in a coma following a stroke.

The news was broken last night by his friend and guitar tech, Chris, on Cochran's Facebook page. He said that, on Thursday morning, Cochran collapsed at his Bridgewater, NJ home. Tests revealed that his left carotid artery, which supplies the left hemisphere of his brain with blood, was completely blocked. Attempts to open the artery via surgery were unsuccessful.

According to Chris, "the carotid artery became dissected from some kind of trauma/injury to the neck, that Karl may not have even noticed. That in turn caused a massive blood clot to form, which slammed shut the blood flow to the brain all at once."

Chris adds that Cochran remains in critical condition in an undisclosed hospital. As for his longterm prognosis, he reports, "The fact that he has survived 36 hours is a huge plus. If he makes it past the next 10 days, the long, laborious process of rehabilitation will begin. Again, there are a gigantic number of unknowns in what the next days will hold. It all depends on how much damage to the language, reasoning and understanding centers of the brain (where the stroke was centered) have been affected. The ability for him to move the right side of his body will be affected for sure; to what degree, no one can say right now."

Paul Stanley expressed his concern for Cochran via Twitter last night.

Cochran co-wrote 'Into the Void' with Ace Frehley on Kiss' 1998 album 'Psycho Circus' and served as a bass player in Frehley's band. He also appeared on the Eric Singer Project's 'Lost and Spaced' covers album that same year. He has worked with Turner regularly since 1997, and has played in a New Jersey bar band, Far Cry, since 1986 when his touring schedule permits.

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