Former Guess Who Singer Burton Cummings Injured in Serious Car Accident
Former Guess Who singer Burton Cummings suffered a concussion and numerous other injuries to his body in a car accident. He also disclosed that he is giving up social media as a result of the accident.
"Currently recovering and healing from a very bad auto accident which happened on Sunday, Mother's Day, about 5:40 pm," he wrote recently on Facebook. "I was on my way to Fry's Electronics on Canoga [in Woodland Hills, Calif.] and I was hit by a guy who ran right through a red light. My car is totalled. I suffered a concussion as my head cracked my front windshield. Yes, I was wearing my seatbelt. I have cuts and serious bruising on both arms, and my left leg is very painful. Also, intense back pain. I need some serious healing time and won't be able to fly right away."
"I'm in a lot of physical pain today," he continued. "I'm trying to focus on just how lucky I am not to have been killed or crippled. My hands and throat are basically okay, although I would be in no condition to do a show right now. No glass hit my eyes, but the concussion was quite serious."
But, he added, the "worst thing these last two nights has been that my mind has been 'reliving the crash'...that sound and fear and unexpected horror...I was unconscious for a few seconds before I came to and was fortunately able to get out of the car myself. It's totaled...it looks like a piece of crumpled up foolscap that you would toss into the garbage. I've always been extremely wary of shrinks and therapists, but now, at 70, after this accident, I know I might have to get some help getting over the shock...that's the worst part right now...trying to keep telling myself that I'm okay...my mind keeps reliving the awful crash...the terror and the sound."
The accident has caused him to change his priorities, and with that comes a break from what he called the "venom" that exists online. "It would be crushing at the best of times," he said, "but right now, in the condition in which I find myself, it's just impossible to deal with. I'm through with social media for the most part. After a while it becomes a pissing contest, a race for the inside track, and basically it's all disgusting. ...[N]ow, in May of 2018, the joy has been painfully extracted from all of that...it only takes a few poison people to ruin things for a lot of nice folks...and that's precisely what has happened."