Report: East Village musician Jesse Malin paralyzed from the waist down after spinal stroke

Photo by Katrina del Mar via Sweet Relief 

East Village-based singer-songwriter Jesse Malin was left paralyzed from the waist down after suffering an extremely rare spinal stroke in early May, according to published reports. 

Rolling Stone was first to report about this: 

Gathered with friends to mark the one-year anniversary of the death of Howie Pyro, Malin's former D Generation bandmate and best friend, he felt a burning pain in his lumbar region that slowly migrated down his hips, through his thighs, and into his heels. 

He collapsed onto the floor of the restaurant, unable to walk. "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," Malin says during a phone call from his room at an NYU rehab facility. 

The stroke occurred on May 4. He described what his life has been like since then:

"This is the hardest six weeks that I've ever had," he says. "I'm told that they don’t really understand it, and they're not sure of the chances. 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." 

After a two-week stint at Mount Sinai, Malin was transferred to an NYU facility. 

His days consist of three rounds of physical therapy and rehabilitation, with the short-term goal of teaching him how to move his body without the use of his legs and do daily tasks. When he's discharged later this month, he'll be in a wheelchair and have to relocate from his current walk-up apartment to a new ADA-compliant one with an elevator. It won't be cheap. 

David Bason, Malin's manager, and a group of friends launched a campaign via the Sweet Relief Musicians Fund to raise money for the singer's care and recovery. Find more details here. 

Malin, a Queens native and longtime East Village resident, is a partner in several local establishments, including Niagara, 96 Tears and the Bowery Electric.