Atkin, who’s played with Rustbell, Public Access and South of Wealthy Trio, suffered head and spinal injuries in the Guatemalan accident. Supporters have launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover medical expenses.
A ‘Brilliant and Sensitive Songwriter’: Alexander Atkin during a Rustbell recording session earlier this year. (Photo/Ricky Olmos)
UPDATED AT 1:20 p.m. THURSDAY
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Alexander Atkin’s sister, Shannon Crosby, reports: “Alex is having surgery today to stabilize his spine in order to prevent further damage to his spinal cord. He is paralyzed from the waist down, but is in good spirits.” Also, The Mitten Brewing Co. and The Crane Wives will host a benefit for Atkin at Mitten Brewing, 527 Leonard St. NW, on Jan. 7, with a 50/50 raffle and silent auction. Get details online here.
Grand Rapids musician Alexander Atkin was seriously injured Monday in a motorcycle accident while vacationing in Guatemala with friends and fellow musicians Max Lockwood and Joey Schultz.
Few details about the accident were available, but in a statement from a GoFundMe campaign started for Atkin, he suffered a spinal injury in the crash and is paralyzed from the waist down. Atkin was flown back to Michigan via a $30,000 emergency jet and arrived Wednesday morning, according to Atkin’s sister, Shannon Crosby.
“He is my favorite person in the world and I feel like I’m in a nightmare and can’t wake up,” she said.
On Stage: Alexander Atkin, foreground, playing at SpeakEZ Lounge in June. (Photo/Taylor Mansen)
With mounting emergency costs, Crosby started a GoFundMe campaign that has spread quickly via social media and by early Tuesday evening had raised more than $4,000 toward a $200,000 goal. Before midnight, it was at $8,000 and by Thursday afternoon, was approaching nearly $16,000.
As part of the GoFundMe campaign, Crosby noted that Atkin “will likely need multiple surgeries and extensive medical care. He will need great help with living expenses.”
Donate to the GoFundMe campaign online here. More than 120 people had contributed to the cause by late Tuesday night, many of them offering words of hope and encouragement.
Friend Kate Pillsbury, a member of The Crane Wives, reported Wednesday morning on Facebook that Atkin had “made it safely to Grand Rapids and seems to be in great hands. The (Spectrum Hospital) staff is very kind and eager to help. We’re still not sure about when his surgery will be, but it will likely be tomorrow. We don’t know the extent of the damage, and the doctor said we won’t know for quite some time.”
She added that Atkin’s “helmet was smashed and cracked in half and yet his CAT scans have shown us his brain is operating perfectly. He’s in good spirits and happy to be home. He wanted to thank everyone for the overwhelming outpouring of love you’ve all shown. He’s blown away by the community’s response. And he is grateful to be alive and hopeful about his recovery.”
Visits are limited to family members but Atkin has his cell phone at the hospital and welcomes text messages, Pillsbury reported.
Atkin is the frontman and driving force behind the recently formed grunge-blues band Rustbell, which includes Dan Rickabus on drums, Max Lockwood on bass and Steve Leaf on electric guitar. The band recorded its debut album, currently in the final stages of production, this summer at Crane Wives bassist Ben Zito’s studio.
Bandmate Lockwood, also bassist for Big Dudee Roo, was with Atkin on the Guatemalan trip, along with West Michigan banjo player Joey Schultz.
In an interview for a Rustbell feature story last summer, Lockwood described Atkin as “a brilliant and sensitive songwriter and I really relate to his connection to the natural world and his use of natural imagery.”
Bandmate and drummer Dan Rickabus, best known as a member of The Crane Wives, called Atkin “one of the kindest, most intelligent humans I’ve ever met.”
Rustbell officially debuted as a band at the Earthwork Harvest Gathering outside Lake City in September.
Copyright 2015, Spins on Music LLC
