For the first time since his attack and subsequent hospitalization in Chicago back in June, Madina Lake bassist Matthew Leone has spoken about the altercation and what has happened since.
He recently underwent two surgeries to repair brain hemorrhaging and began a long uphill battle of rehabilitation; however, his progress has improve dramatically. He talked about his stays in the hospitals and the surgeries:
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The first time was seven days. But I prematurely left because I couldn’t stand the energy there. It was really compiling stress. Anything involving the brain is very tenuous, so stress had to be minimized. But I was begging to get out of there. I remember Nathan trying to help me out. Every hour, they would send someone in to check my vitals and brain function and he would always be behind them holding up the answer. [Laughs.] The second time I was in was five days.
"During the first one, they lost me one time. I flatlined. But they did incredible. The second surgery was supposed to be 45 minutes and ended up being more than four hours. They lost me a couple times on that one, but the surgeons obviously saved my life. I’m eternally grateful to them. I have a paralyzed upper third of my forehead that looks hilarious, but overall, everything went well."
When asked whether or not he had any contact with Justin Pivec (Pivec was charged with Attempted First Degree Murder, Aggravated Battery Causing Serious Bodily Harm and Aggravated Battery in a Public Place after the altercation), he replied:
"No, he’s requested to talk to us a few times. But to me, he’s a nothing. He’s a wife-beater we got off the streets. If you focus your energy on that, it’s gonna consume you in a bad way. He’s a wolf in sheep’s clothes who needs to be behind bars. That couple has two kids—they had just had them. People say to me, “That’s so sad for the kids that their father went to jail.” I don’t know their histories, but I would assume maybe he grew up seeing his father beat his mother. So his kids would have grown up seeing their father beat their mother and the cycle would perpetuate.
"To me, this was the best thing that could happen, even though it’s in a painful way. It illustrates to these kids that it’s not okay to do that. Nathan and I lost our mother in a car accident when we were 12, and she was just the most amazing, beautiful spirit I’ve ever seen on the planet. We have three older sisters. Women are just absolutely marvelous, beautiful creatures and in no way, shape or form can it be tolerated that they’re treated like that. So I’m just grateful that stopped."
The full interview can be read here.
