Singer Jesse Malin reveals paralysis from rare spinal stroke

American singer Jesse Malin, known for his involvement with New York City punk bands Heart Attack and D Generation, has disclosed that he experienced a rare spinal stroke, resulting in paralysis from the waist down.

At 56 years old, Malin shared the details of his health setback during an interview with Rolling Stone, stating that it occurred on May 4 while he was dining in the East Village.

He was with friends commemorating the one-year anniversary of the passing of his D Generation bandmate and best friend, Howie Pyro, when he felt a burning pain in his lumbar region, which radiated through his hips, legs, and heels. This sensation caused him to collapse at the restaurant and rendered him immobile.

“Everybody was standing above me like in Rosemary’s Baby, saying all these different things, and I was there not knowing what was going on with my body,” Malin recounted during a phone call to Rolling Stone from his room at an NYU rehab facility.

Murphy’s Law singer carried Malin from the Italian restaurant to the hallway of a nearby apartment, where he was then taken by ambulance to Mount Sinai Hospital.

“This is the hardest six weeks that I’ve ever had,” he expressed to the music magazine. “I’m told that they don’t really understand it, and they’re not sure of the chances. The reports from the doctors have been tough, and there’s moments in the day where you want to cry, and where you’re scared. But I keep saying to myself that I can make this happen. I can recover my body,” Malin stated.

Malin, who has long advocated for ‘P.M.A.’ (positive mental attitude) on stage and in interviews, admitted that it has been challenging to summon lately.

“It’s almost like a joke. Like, ‘You talk all this P.M.A.? Well, see how you deal with this,'” he remarked. “They took me outside for the first time the other day in a wheelchair, and I went through the lobby and I could see the sun shining through the glass, and I just started bawling. It felt like I was watching myself in this movie. I didn’t know this person. By the time I got to the corner, I got myself together and into a park and just breathed in the air.”

His musical journey began at the age of 12 as the front-man of the influential New York City hardcore band Heart Attack, formed in 1980. He was also an original member of the glam punk band D Generation, established in 1991 in New York City.

D Generation band member Howie Pyro, real name Howard Kusten, passed away in May 2022 at the age of 61 in Los Angeles from COVID-19-related pneumonia after battling liver disease.