Haydain Neale, 1970–2009
The Lee's Palace Mural is Dead! Long Live the Lee's Palace Mural!
Peeve Patrol
Polling Booth: "Kick a Ginger" Controversy
Third Floor, First Rate
Haydain Neale has been making slow, but steady progress following his devastating vehicle accident back in August, according to music insider Larry LeBlanc. The musician and lead singer of Toronto-based jacksoul suffered serious brain injuries after a car made an unsafe turn and collided with Neale's Vespa scooter at Eglinton Avenue and Kennedy Road.
The band had performed just a week earlier at the My Mississauga summer festival to support their June album mySOUL, which features cover versions of songs like "Been Caught Stealing" and "Change Is Gonna Come."
Leblanc reports that Neale has just finished his rehabilitation program at Toronto Rehab, and has now been transferred to a private care facility in Mississauga. In January, there were reports that Neale was standing on his feet, feeding himself, and had just said his first word. "He has begun speaking," notes LeBlanc in his industry newsletter, "and even doing some singing."
Neale's family has maintained a strong measure of privacy, but have said that email, letters and cards were being read and shown to him daily, even while he was in a coma. To help defray the significant costs of what will continue to be a long-term rehabilitation process, Sony BMG established a trust for his family, who are gratefully accepting contributions (that means from you too, corporate entertainment industry). Neale has a home in the Beaches with his wife and teenage daughter.
Donations can be made via PayPal via the jacksoul website, or at any RBC (c/o Haydain Neale Family Trust, account #1018647, transit #06262, branch #003). Letters can be sent via email at getwellhaydain@gmail.com or via post to 17 Stephanie St., Toronto, M5T 1B1.
Photo courtesy of Sony BMG.
add to stumble upon
add to reddit
tweet this
post to facebook
Sorry if this is harsh, but why would I contribute to Mr. Neale's Health care costs? I have been hospitalized many times in my life and nobody decided to set up a trust fund to pay for any of my out of pocket expenses, let alone a private care facility!!?!?!?
While I sympathize with his family and with his situation, I feel that someone is manipulating things behind the scenes on his behalf and capitalizing on his CanCon fame in order to pay the bills.
When Joe Nobody gets a head injury he or she has to go through provincial insurance just like almost all the rest of us.
Now if Mr Neale and his family had the money to comfortably afford private rehabilitative care, I'd say more power to them. But when someone of renown chooses this path and either doesn't have the means to pay, or even worse (and I'm not suggesting this is the case here) does, and then asks for handouts, I cry foul.
Now if BMG wanted to foot some or all of the bill, that is fine, but soliciting handouts from fans is plain sad. Someone in Haydain's camp ought to rethink this one.