The English indie-rock band Glass Animals are currently on tour, but were forced to cancel upcoming shows, including their sold-out gig in Tampa, Florida, after their drummer was involved in a life-threatening crash.
While biking in Dublin, Ireland, drummer Joe Seaward was hit by a truck.
The band’s frontman Dave Bayley posted the following statement to their Instagram this morning.
“His leg was broken on impact and he became tangled in the truck’s trailer where his skull suffered a complex fracture. Miraculously and thankfully, he is alive. After a couple long operations he is now on the road to recovery. It’s going to be a long, difficult, and winding road, but knowing how determined Joe is, and seeing how much his body has recovered already in the past 10 days, I am so optimistic that he will make it back to his cheeky old self.”
Bayley went on to explain that over the past week, Seaward underwent general anesthetic twice for neurosurgery and for his leg. While the operation for reshaping part of his skull was successful, the collapsed skull bruised and damaged part of the brain responsible for speech. At first, Seaward could only say the word “I,” however, now he is starting to find more words. Trying to keep things light, Bayley added that now Seaward has two titanium pins holding his femur together, so “basically he is now wolverine.”
“We are very sorry to say that, because of all of this, we will be cancelling our remaining shows this year,” the final portion of the post read. “Joe’s injuries are highly unlikely to heal in time to make any of them. I wish more than anything that this accident hadn’t happened and that Joe was okay and we would still be coming to hang with you all, but life has thrown something horribly sad and unexpected at us, and we need to do everything in our power to conquer it and get Joe back on his feet.
“I sincerely hope you all understand. We will be back as soon as we can, and stronger than ever.”
Remaining cancelled tour dates include Tampa’s show at the Ritz Ybor – that has been sold out for weeks – as well as shows in Baltimore, New York, San Marcos, Miami, Lake Buena Vista, Athens, and Charlotte. Shows overseas in the Netherlands, Czech Republic, and France have also been cancelled, along with festival appearances like San Marcos’ Float Festival, Madrid’s Mad Cool, and Denver’s Velorama Festival.
Tickets will be refunded at point of purchase.
