Accident Took Some Mobility, but Not His Music

Alan Seeger was in a devastating car accident 8 years ago that robbed him of much of his mobility. Slowly but surely, a good deal of it has returned and he is playing the guitar again.

I was a working musician from the time I was 18 years old, first in bands playing in clubs across the state of Oklahoma and later as a church musician and music minister, as well as recording in my home studio. When I was 42, all that seemed to slip through my fingers when I was involved in a collision on the Interstate that nearly took my life.

I was heading home early from work because of an impending snowstorm when a vehicle went out of control on the other side of the highway and crossed the median, striking my car almost squarely head-on. I awoke from unconsciousness to discover that I was hanging out the drivers’ window almost up to my waist, and the engine was on fire beneath the crumpled hood.

As it turned out, I had broken both ankles, my left femur, left hip and pelvis, and — most significantly to my musical career — both bones in my left forearm, as well as taking a nasty bump to the head and suffering a puncture wound to my back, which caused me to spend four years with a colostomy bag. I spent seven months in a series of four different hospitals, the first eight weeks of which I was in a medically induced coma and nearly died at least four different times. 

When I arrived home, I sold off all my guitars, because my left hand was too weak to even hold a glass of soda, let alone fret a guitar. I was also dependent on a wheelchair for mobility.

It was a long, slow road of rehabilitation, but I gradually regained much of my independence, though I still must use a wheelchair most of the time.

However, a few months ago a friend was kind enough to give me a virtually new electric guitar; another friend provided a small amplifier. After working with these tools for a few months, I have come to realize that it’s not hopeless. There are things I still can’t play, but I have managed to get back much of my former ability. (Can’t dance across the stage, but then I never really could, even in the old days.)

I have begun to gather the additional tools I need to resume the recording career that had been interrupted; I am still reticent about performing live because of the wheelchair, but even that barrier is coming down when I will perform at an open mic night at the college where my wife teaches.

All I have to say to those facing challenges is don’t let them hold you back. Age is just a number; disabilities can be overcome. I’m living proof.

Alan Seeger
Mission, South Dakota