Canadian music icon Burton Cummings said he is recovering from a concussion and several injuries after a car crash in Los Angeles on Sunday — and may not be able to sing the anthem for the next Winnipeg Jets home game.
In a Facebook post, the Winnipeg rocker and former frontman for The Guess Who, wrote that he was struck by a driver who ran a red light, which totalled his car. He said there were five people in the other car, including a baby.
“I was unconscious for a few seconds before I came to and was fortunately able to get out of the car myself,” Cummings wrote. “It’s totaled … it looks like a piece of crumpled up foolscap that you would toss into the garbage.”
Cummings said he suffered a concussion due to his head cracking the windshield, in addition to cuts and “serious bruising on both arms,” a very painful left leg and intense back pain.
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He added that before the crash he was hoping to fly to Winnipeg to sing the national anthems at a Winnipeg Jets and Vegas Golden Knights game for the Western Conference final.
“Now, unless the Jets continue on for a while, I might not be able to make it to Winnipeg to sing the anthems and cheer the Jets onward,” he wrote. “I’ve followed their rise to the semi finals with great joy and pride. This accident has come at an extremely bad time for me … for more than just one reason.”
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He wrote that he’s in a “lot of physical pain” and needs some “serious healing time,” adding he’s “trying to focus on just how lucky” he is not to have been killed or crippled.
“I know I’m going to have to get some help getting over the shock. That’s the worst part right now trying to keep telling myself that I’m okay,” Cummings added.
True North Sports + Entertainment, which operates the Jets, confirmed that the idea of Cummings singing the anthem was floated.
— With files from the Canadian Press