Thoughts about my friends Brian Maguire and John Cusack

Mike Blake — Thu, 13 Dec 2007 17:54:00 +0000

In a freak accident back in September my friend John Cusack fell off a bicycle in Northport, NY and suffered a serious head injury. It’s been a very painful year for the Cusack family and friends. Obviously it saddened me deeply to learn that Brian Maguire suffered a similar injury.

Brian crashed on his motorcycle last Sunday night. Updates are available on Jim Abbott’s blog at The Orlando Sentinel, and There’s a Brian Maguire Relief Fund.

In John’s case, the waking up process was very gradual. After about a week in an induced coma similar to Brian’s, John began to show signs of life. The first sign of a functioning brain was the ability to blink when asked to blink. Slowly, day after day, there were subtle improvements. Response to stimuli, Open eyes tracking movement . At some point John was moved from a ventilator to a trachea. Then there was recognition of friends and family. Eventually there was movement of limbs and talking, (although talking is nearly impossible with the trachea.) . Now after a cranioplasty to restore his skull, John is scheduled to be moved to a Rehabilitation Center today where he will relearn basic muscle movements, and hopefully walk again.

The Cuscacks have set up a site here if you’d like to learn more. John Cusack .

With a brain injury, there is always hope. I pray that good news continues to break for both John and Brian, and however long it takes, I hope I can spend time with them again in this world.

Martinicity: Tag Brian Maguire

Thoughts about my friends Brian Maguire and John Cusack