Country Universe has learned that Jay Neilson, friend of the site and brother of Country Universe favorite Tami Neilson, is recovering from a brain injury. His family is fundraising to help him.
Tami Neilson writes:
Many of you may know Jay as my awesomely talented band mate and lifelong musical collaborator. I know him as my little brother and best friend. He is facing one of the biggest challenges a person can face and I’m reaching out to ask for help on behalf of him and his wife Lindsay- who are always the ones to help others and aren’t very comfortable asking for it themselves.
At the end of July, at the advice of his doctor, Jay was scheduled to have a small lesion (bump) removed from his forehead that’s been growing for a few years and was cause for concern. It was a simple day surgery and he expected to be back to work the following week, all healed and ready to hit the road with me in Sept to play our Grand Ole Opry debut, Dollywood, and a tour in New Zealand together in October. However, due to complications, it led to an unexpected medical emergency- swelling of the brain, seizures and another surgery to remove part of his skull. He was in an induced coma in ICU for weeks and suffered multiple strokes. Jay is now coming out of sedation and has a long road to recovery ahead, learning to talk and walk again in the aftermath of a brain injury. Doctors have said that he will be unable to drive for at least a year and he will be spending the months ahead in a rehab facility, working with speech and physio therapists.
Many of you have kindly reached out and asked how you can help, which led to us creating this page. We didn’t want to share this private information until Jay had the awareness for us to ask if he felt comfortable with it and for him to agree.
Being a self-employed musician often means you have no income security unless you can tour and work. It also means you are not eligible for the government assistance or workers compensation you would normally be able to access with a more traditional job or employer. Jay is now facing many months of inability to work and this is of course adding to an already very distressing situation. We are hoping that folks will pitch in to help in any little way that they are able to help ease that worry so Jay and Lindsay can focus on his recovery and not worrying about their finances.
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