Jesse Malin reveals he had rare spinal stroke that left him paralyzed

By Lisa Respers France, CNN

(CNN) — Jesse Malin is a rocker well known for dancing and interacting with the crowds at his concerts, and he hopes to get back to that someday.

But after experiencing a rare spinal cord stroke, Malin is currently paralyzed from the waist down.

Malin told Rolling Stone that weeks after performing at New York’s famed Webster Hall in honor of the 20th-anniversary celebration of his solo debut “The Fine Art of Self Destruction” in March, he collapsed while out to dinner with friends to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of his best friend and former D Generation bandmate, Howie Pyro.

Malin said he felt pain in his lower back that traveled to his heels before he found himself on the floor unable to move

“Everybody was standing above me like in ‘Rosemary’s Baby,’ saying all these different things, and I was there not knowing what was going on with my body,” he said.

According to the National Institute Neurological Disorders and Stroke, a spinal cord infarction “is a stroke within the spinal cord or the arteries that supply it. It is caused by arteriosclerosis or a thickening or closing of the major arteries to the spinal cord.”

Malin was taken to Mount Sinai Hospital and talked to Rolling Stone from a New York University rehab facility where he is currently undergoing therapy.

“This is the hardest six weeks that I’ve ever had,” he told the magazine.

“I’m told that they don’t really understand it, and they’re not sure of the chances,” he said. “The reports from the doctors have been tough, and there’s moments in the day where you want to cry, and where you’re scared. But I keep saying to myself that I can make this happen. I can recover my body.”

Malin’s manager David Bason and friends launched a fund on Wednesday to help pay for expenses as the singer is currently struggling financially since he can’t work.

Malin said he has mixed feelings about having to receive help, despite the fact that he has fundraised for others in the past who have also gone through similar challenges.

“I always felt that we have a voice with these microphones and with these guitars and with these venues to help each other out. But it’s very hard for me to take back and be that person,” he said. “I don’t want to be a burden, but I’m learning. Just laying here and not being able to walk, it’s very humbling.”

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