Musician Jesse Malin, a prominent figure in the New York City rock and punk scenes, suffered a rare stroke last month and has been paralyzed ever since.
Malin’s representative, Carla Parisi, confirmed Thursday that Malin was taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital in New York City on May 4 after she collapsed in an East Village restaurant and needed to be transported.
He was later diagnosed with an extremely rare spinal cord infarction, or stroke, in his spine, which left him paralyzed.
“Jesse requests that everyone film him dancing,” Parisi said in an email to NBC News.
Malin is currently undergoing neurological care at the Langone Orthopedic Center at New York University Hospital, according to a fundraiser set up to help cover his ongoing medical expenses.
“His diagnosis is not viable,” The website said. “There is hope but it will be a long and arduous road using both conventional and alternative medical therapies to get him back on his feet after this very tragic diagnosis.”
In an interview with Rolling StoneMallen said he felt a burning pain in his lower back that radiated to his hips and legs, and then he fell to the restaurant floor. He didn’t know what was going on with his body and “everyone was standing over me like in Rosemary’s Baby.”
But Mallen told the magazine he is determined to have a positive mental attitude about his condition and recovery.
“I’m told they don’t really get it, and they’re not sure about the chances,” Mallen told Rolling Stone. “The reports from the doctors have been tough, and there are moments in the day when you want to cry, and where you’re scared. But I still tell myself I can make it happen.”
A Queens native, Malin’s rock and roll career began as a teenager in the 1980s with the band Heart Attack.
But he is most likely best known for being the frontman of D Generation, which formed in New York City in the early 1990s.
D Generation released three albums before eventually disbanding in 1999, though the group has reunited on various projects over the years.
Malin has also maintained a successful solo career. He collaborated with Green Day on a project under the group name Rodeo Queens in 2009, releasing a song called “Depression Times”.
His latest album, A World Sad and Beautiful, was released in September 2021 to strong reviews in Rolling Stone and American Songwriter.
American Songwriter described the double album as “a sweeping portrait of the talented singer-songwriter”.
“He’s a rocker with a folksy soul, or maybe a folk rocker,” the outlet said. “Either way, both sides are so well represented throughout these fifteen tracks that prove Jesse Malin’s creativity is alive and well.”
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