Deftones bassist Chi Cheng, who woke from a coma last May after a serious car crash in 2008, has been making further progress towards his recovery.
A video posted to YouTube, which you can see below, shows the bassist lifting his leg - a huge milestone, considering his previous state.
Chi was not wearing a seatbelt when he crashed at 60mph in 2008. He remained in a "serious but stable" condition until May 2011, when he was taken out of an intensive care unit.
His family and friends have been raising money for his treatment on One Love For Chi. Reports suggest that his family's insurance company cut off his coverage early in the treatment, forcing them to organise benefit shows and auctions of Deftones merchandise.
The remaining band members were keen not to replace Cheng, and continue to pray for his full recovery so he can re-join the band. However, former Quicksand bassist Sergio Vega was hired as a temporary replacement so the band could continue to record and perform. Cheng had previously given Vega his blessing to stand-in as bassist during an illness in 1999.
An album named "Eros" which was being recorded with Cheng was put on hold after his accident.
"As we neared completion on 'Eros', we realized that this record doesn't best encompass and represent who we are currently as people and as musicians," read a statement on the Deftones website at the time. "Although those songs will see the light of day at some point, we collectively made the decision that we needed to take a new approach."
The new approach became "Diamond Eyes", which was released in May 2010. The band are believed to be recording their newest record in Hollywood.
Please join UG in wishing Chi Cheng a speedy and painless recovery.
It would be great if he could rejoin the band, this is really too bad. As if the insurance cut off support. Im not sure thats right, if he's slowly recovering they should definitely help out with the bills.
This is the problem for a population in a country that only have private medical insurance.
Insurance is a business. They will use any excuse not to pay out and they can refuse to reinsure a person like Chi on the grounds that it would be too expensive to continue paying for care.
No doubt the first thing his insurance company did was check for any reason not to pay out.
This man is one of the millions of reasons why a State funded medical programme is essential in America. This kind of news doesn't exist in the UK because the health service would pay for his treatment indefinitely.
4 more years for Obama!!
Lots of love to the USA from the rest of the world (except maybe parts of the middle east)
Thats great news!!... keep going on Chi!, however i dont think he will be able to play bass and rejoin Deftones in a short or even mid term, he basically has to relearn everything that we take for granted (walking, eating, talking, etc). And i think Deftones should release EROS and donate the money to Chi's fundation... but they probably have other plans.
This is the problem for a population in a country that only have private medical insurance.
Insurance is a business. They will use any excuse not to pay out and they can refuse to reinsure a person like Chi on the grounds that it would be too expensive to continue paying for care.
No doubt the first thing his insurance company did was check for any reason not to pay out.
This man is one of the millions of reasons why a State funded medical programme is essential in America. This kind of news doesn't exist in the UK because the health service would pay for his treatment indefinitely.
4 more years for Obama!!
Lots of love to the USA from the rest of the world (except maybe parts of the middle east)
yeap aren't they having money problems in the uk? anyway props to Chi
Man, that's some serious coma! He will need a lot of treatment afterwards and stuff... wish him all the best, but it's gonna be a long way to recovery.
This is the problem for a population in a country that only have private medical insurance.
Insurance is a business. They will use any excuse not to pay out and they can refuse to reinsure a person like Chi on the grounds that it would be too expensive to continue paying for care.
No doubt the first thing his insurance company did was check for any reason not to pay out.
This man is one of the millions of reasons why a State funded medical programme is essential in America. This kind of news doesn't exist in the UK because the health service would pay for his treatment indefinitely.
4 more years for Obama!!
Lots of love to the USA from the rest of the world (except maybe parts of the middle east)
yeap aren't they having money problems in the uk? anyway props to Chi
This is the problem for a population in a country that only have private medical insurance.
Insurance is a business. They will use any excuse not to pay out and they can refuse to reinsure a person like Chi on the grounds that it would be too expensive to continue paying for care.
No doubt the first thing his insurance company did was check for any reason not to pay out.
This man is one of the millions of reasons why a State funded medical programme is essential in America. This kind of news doesn't exist in the UK because the health service would pay for his treatment indefinitely.
4 more years for Obama!!
Lots of love to the USA from the rest of the world (except maybe parts of the middle east)
This story is a good example of why we need universal health insurance. You may disagree, until it's your turn in the O.R. No malice intended.
his legs look real messed up, i never realised how bad his condition really was, i knew it was bad but wow. if he still has bruises now then that must have been one hell of a bed accident, hope he recovers
his legs look real messed up, i never realised how bad his condition really was, i knew it was bad but wow. if he still has bruises now then that must have been one hell of a bed accident, hope he recovers
"Reports suggest that his family's insurance company cut off his coverage early in the treatment"
Businesses are cold bitches.
As it turns out... insurance companies aren't in the business of keeping their so called "contractual obligations", rather, they're in the business of cashing your premium checks and denying claims. Its nice how you sometimes have to sue your insurance company because they won't honor the contract you made payments on. Welcome to planet earth...
watch out for the natives.
his legs look real messed up, i never realised how bad his condition really was, i knew it was bad but wow. if he still has bruises now then that must have been one hell of a bed accident, hope he recovers
Never been a fan but really happy to hear that he's improving. He is (or was, who knows if he'll ever play again) a great musician, and it's always good when people can recover from things like that - modern medicine is amazing, even if modern American healthcare sucks.
Never been a fan but really happy to hear that he's improving. He is (or was, who knows if he'll ever play again) a great musician, and it's always good when people can recover from things like that - modern medicine is amazing, even if modern American healthcare sucks.
Can't edit - sorry for doublepost but I wanted to add - not all healthcare providers are shitty like that. Ours have covered almost a quarter million bucks on my dad's chemotherapy and have said they will not cap that spending at all - and they've approved more expensive (as in, $1000 A DAY) medication even though it has no benefit other than to be slightly less painful (there was some question as to whether they would cover something that didn't affect the speed of recovery). If you live in the US and you get lucky and have a good deal, insurance is great. If you get the short end - like Chi - you're in deep shit. The fundraising for him has been really inspirational.
"Reports suggest that his family's insurance company cut off his coverage early in the treatment"
Businesses are cold bitches.
"Chi was not wearing a seatbelt when he crashed at 60mph in 2008."
Something tells me that may have been their reason (or excuse depending on what company it is i suppose). That aside, glad to hear this fellow is getting better
I've been hoping and prayin' Chi makes a full recovery, Deftones are one of my favorite bands!! A few years ago I got in a car accident where I would've gone head first through the windshield had I not been wearing a seat belt, SEAT BELTS SAVE LIVES!
Unfortunately, Chi has not exactly "woken up" yet. He is still in a minimally conscious state and can not speak. His eyes are open most of the time but it is unclear if he is completely aware of what is going on around him. He is in the best of hands at a special clinic in New Jersey who have a very high success rate in healing those with traumatic brain injuries. Chi still has a very long way to go, but it's so great to see him making progress! Please visit www.oneloveforchi.com to learn more and to donate towards his healthcare costs.
I hate to sound like the pessimist here - and a few people have already kind of brought it up - but I think it will be a long, long time, if ever, before he could rejoin the band. Considering has had been in a coma for around three years and he's still not fully conscious kind of suggests some serious traumatic brain injury. Even once he is fully conscious, it will probably take years of physical therapy before he can be fully ambulatory again.
Just seems like the band members are hesitant to consider Savio Vega a permanent member. And you can't blame them. Chi will always be a part of Deftones whether he's physically able to play with them or not. But Vega is also a damn good bassist too.
This is the problem for a population in a country that only have private medical insurance.
Insurance is a business. They will use any excuse not to pay out and they can refuse to reinsure a person like Chi on the grounds that it would be too expensive to continue paying for care.
No doubt the first thing his insurance company did was check for any reason not to pay out.
This man is one of the millions of reasons why a State funded medical programme is essential in America. This kind of news doesn't exist in the UK because the health service would pay for his treatment indefinitely.
4 more years for Obama!!
Lots of love to the USA from the rest of the world (except maybe parts of the middle east)
yeap aren't they having money problems in the uk? anyway props to Chi
WhoAMEye wrote:
This is the problem for a population in a country that only have private medical insurance.
Insurance is a business. They will use any excuse not to pay out and they can refuse to reinsure a person like Chi on the grounds that it would be too expensive to continue paying for care.
No doubt the first thing his insurance company did was check for any reason not to pay out.
This man is one of the millions of reasons why a State funded medical programme is essential in America. This kind of news doesn't exist in the UK because the health service would pay for his treatment indefinitely.
4 more years for Obama!!
Lots of love to the USA from the rest of the world (except maybe parts of the middle east)
Yes. Obamacare is working. That's why he had to raise money because Obamacare is working so much.
Michael Stewart wrote:
That's why he had to raise money because Obamacare is working so much.
Actually Obamacare isn't working because it was ruled unconstitutional. I don't understand the full mechanics of it myself but I think healthcare should be universal and excellent quality.
You could quote economics all day and how much money it would cost but what does your heart tell you?
We live in a world where there is abundance for all and has been consolidated into excess for a few..
You cannot argue to anyone in good faith that someone should have subpar health insurance because of a pre-existing condition when we spend billions on the business of murdering others.
Actually Obamacare isn't working because it was ruled unconstitutional. I don't understand the full mechanics of it myself but I think healthcare should be universal and excellent quality.
You could quote economics all day and how much money it would cost but what does your heart tell you?
We live in a world where there is abundance for all and has been consolidated into excess for a few..
You cannot argue to anyone in good faith that someone should have subpar health insurance because of a pre-existing condition when we spend billions on the business of murdering others.
spot on! It amazes me how far behind America is on this issue.
Really hope Chi gets better, when I saw them years ago, he was the dude on stage going the hardest.
I hope the rest of his recovery is faster than the first part has been. Im sure he'd tell you, wear your seatbelt. i know two kids that were doing 70 and another car crossed the median doing 70 and hit them head on. their car rolled over between6-8 times then skidded down the highway on the roof for 300 yds. They walked away cause they had their seatbelts on. seat belts save lives. Get better Chi!
jacobdubya wrote:
Just seems like the band members are hesitant to consider Savio Vega a permanent member. And you can't blame them. Chi will always be a part of Deftones whether he's physically able to play with them or not. But Vega is also a damn good bassist too.
Obviously a very serious topic, but it made me laugh that you called Sergio Vega "Savio Vega" as in the 90's WWF wrestler. :
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