Press Release 20/06/09
“Chris Knox remains in a stable condition in Auckland hospital. This morning he is communicating with hand signs and the occasional word. He is generally in a good mood & enjoys the company of his family and friends.
“Chris is learning new ways of communicating and shows interest in the world around him. He also drew a cartoon likeness of himself. The other Tall Dwarf, Alec Bathgate, is here today and we watched ‘Miles Davis at Isle of Wight’ with Chris.
“We are due to have a meeting with doctors in the next few days to have Chris’ condition more fully explained to us and to get a clearer picture of the way forward. However, to me, as lay person, he seems to be improving daily.
“We’d again like to express our gratitude to all the people that have helped out and to those who have sent cards and have posted comments on the blog – you’ve been a source of great comfort to Barbara, Liesha and John and we read the new entries to Chris each day. We’ve also had a huge stream of visitors to the hospital who we’d like to thank for their patience & kindness.”
Roy Martyn
Just wanted to send the best of wishes on behalf of myself and the Dunedin comic collective.
get well soon Chris.
-Daniel.
Best wishes Chris,Family & Friends
From Melbourne
Garry
Chris, Barbara and Family
Rainy Sydney and listening to some of your tunes today ….thinking of you.
Stay strong.
Ash and family
Sending our very best thoughts to Chris, John and family on behalf of Newcall and myself. We hope that things keep improving as well as they are! Lots of love
Keep on trucking Chris. You’ve got a great big convoy, and a rubber ducky, 10-4.
Hey Chris. Thinking of you and sending off as many good vibes as I can muster.
I hope this chance to explore your very own innerspace will result in many songs pouring forth from you in the not too distant future. Hope it’s not tooooo frustrating. Specially at thise kinda time, one day at a time is a good way to go.
Love to you and your family and friendz. It must be great to have such a good support system.
Late Happy Birthday Barbara! You must be a pretty amazing woman to put up with that noisy bloke all these years!!
To you all, kia kaha, kia toa, kia manawanui…
Arohanui Sandie
Hi Alec!
Speaking of Tall Dwarfs, I bought the 3EPs CD recently, and while the artwork and picture on the disc are correct, bizarrely, it plays Fork Songs (which I’ve already got)! So will have to buy it again and hopefully get the right one!
I’m enjoying the updates, all sounds like encouraging news and good to read.
All the best for continued improvement.
Hi Chris,
The human body.machine.computer thingo is endowed with the most inconceivably fantastic ability to do a million things ridiculously well. Self-repair and rebuilding is at the top of the list.
Thanks for your music, truth and humour. You continue to remain a true inspiration to me and I give massive thanks for your gifts, particularly musical, given to us giddily happy punters over the decades.
Leverage off all the support and love you have, go hard with your rehab work and you will bounce back high. You’re a wonder, man.
Thanks so much!
With love,
Bryce New
Sydney
Occatrailer
hi chris barbara roy and everyone
hopefully the hospital is heated – if that’s the case you guys just might be making on the deal as it’s freezing in herne bay this morning – i’m for the bath option and yesterdays uneaten almond croissant
i am mixing an album today with steve garden in sandringham – it’s sounding great (and a little strange due to the big ass who wrote it
really looking forward to hearing ‘a warm gun’ and will head up to three lamps tomorrow to get it
let us know when you’re ready for roving troubadours
k
hiya Chris, much love to you and your family right now – I’m sending an avalanche of positive thoughts your way…and here’s another stroke success story for you:
My mother had a full brain stem stroke when she was 43 (yeah, gulp). She was pretty munted, was in a coma in intensive care for the first month and then was in hospital for a year after that earning how to stand up and walk/shuffle, to talk, to swallow, pretty much how to live. Eventually she was released to go back to her house. My brother and I started looking after her day on day off and then after a while Rex and I moved in with her for a year while we did up the bus (remember the brown bus? up by Moa?).She had physio and speech therapy daily and after about 2ish years she more or less was able to look after herself again. She never made a “full” recovery due to the severity of her stroke (and it was 1986, medical practices are much more sophisticated today I hear) but she definitely did regain her quality of life and was able to move on.
I have every faith that you will come through this like a trooper and I’ll join the rehab list if you need someone to help, xxx love to you,
Lee Foreman
Strong emotion on hearing the news of your stroke, Chris – my heart is with you and Clare and all the family. Great to read the good news about your progress on this blog.
Clare – I assume you have been hearing about Jill Bolte-Taylor’s interviews on radio NZ and her book “My stroke of insight?” marvellous stuff – sleep is the great healer. I jut looked for the link on the website but it has expired. I think I have a copy of the original interview and can ut it on CD for you if you like.
From a long time fan.
Great to hear heartening updates and funny stories. Keep laughing and everything will surely come out all right in the end.
Warm wishes for a swift recovery from frosty Hamilton.
Hi Chris and Barb
Great to hear you are scrawling again- just as brilliantly shaky and scratchy as always, I hope.
I have another friend who had a stroke a while back and he’s making a good recovery. All the best to you, Chris.
You guys should also check out the neuroanatomist who had a stroke and wrote a book about it all. I heard her just recently on the BBCWorld Service. She was able to record the experience and write her perspective on the brain and its capacity for recovery. She felt she had gained a new approach to the world. Sounds kinda spacey as I describe it, but it is worth checking out. “Because of her knowledge of how the brain works, her respect for the cells composing her human form, and most of all an amazing mother, Taylor completely repaired her mind and recalibrated her understanding of the world according to the insights gained from her right brain…”Here is the podcast ( http://www.bbc.co.uk/worldservice/documentaries/2009/05/090526_myworld_stroke.shtml )
All the best to you and Barb, Chris and Julia
Hi there from a face-in-the-crowd wellwisher – thank you for the updates on Chris Knox’s progress and for the link to Smoke CDs which is a practical way of sending thanks for all of the pleasure that Chris’ music has brought to me over the years. I wish Chris a speedy return to heath & strength and writing again. Onwards, ever upwards.
Many many years ago I watched in awe as Toy Love played at the Awapuni in Palmy. I took my mates to Sweetwaters a couple of years later and dragged them down the front to expose them to Toy Love [where one of them was urinated on by an over lubricated fellow festival goer].
I watched in awe the animated Bride of Frankenstein” vid on ‘Radio With Pix” or was it ‘Grunt Machine”?
I read “Jesus on a stick” and got intrested in comics again.
Later I heard ‘Not Given Lightly” and haven’t stopped hearing it since.
In brief Chris Knox has floated in and out of my life since I was a 17 year old at Horowhenua College in Levin.
And all the time one message has come through: the great punk ethos,”if you want to give it a go, do it, don’t worry about what anyone ele thinks, just do it because you want to and it might be fun.”
From all of us who you have influenced, get well soon the country needs stroppy buggers now more than ever before. Get well soon.
Hey Chris I have been stirred and amused and outraged and surprised by your music for 30+ years your perspective on life has followed my aging your perception awakes me to what I know but haven’t realized I have always assumed that you will be there stirring up my life for the next 30 years ( assuming my own 30 years) so please get on top of it! and put it all in song you can bring honesty to even this, and quite selfishly I want to listen to your shitty-old-man looking back-forward songs when you are 80+ and me 80 too.
The guy who lived over the road in the op shop
Chris, Barbara, Leisha and John
With Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
Jeannie, Xanthe and Siobhan
Just noticed Clare’s post- same interview on different channels. Good one, Clare – a cd is a good idea. cheers, Chris
Greetings Chris, from the crew in Parua Bay, Whangarei. We’ll be continuing to pray for a complete recovery for you. You have had a good lie down now, its probably about time you got out of there and got back on the road.
Arohanui.
Thanks for keeping us all posted, great idea! Give my best to Chris and his family. I cannot express what an influence Chris has been on my shape and idea of music. Just when i thought there was no point in continuing to play music and i’d gotten incredibly bored with music, a friend played “Meat” and “Fork Songs” for me and i’ve been hooked ever since. I can’t write that without sounding like a pitiful person, but those two albums gave me direction and excited me. Thank you so much and get well!!!!
Hi Chris, Barbara and family,
We have just come back from a family visit in Holland to hear this terrible news and fortunately the encouraging updates since.
We wish you all the best in what is usually a frustratingly long road to recovery. From my memory as a neuro-rehab-physio over twenty years ago, I can tell you that it is a hopefull business, as recovery can go on for at least two years (unless you get all perfect again, before that) and that hard work and lots of practice often does pay off. Now that I’m just your home and garden, run of the mill private physio I’ll leave the advice to those more qualified,
So best wishes from a neighbour and if there is anything more than buying yet another Chris Knox album that i can do please let me know.
Micky, Ana, Doris and Tejo
Sending Chris the best wishes for a prompt recovery from this enforced stillness…
may you bounce back with twice the life force that will keep you being an inspiration to many, you talented old bugga! I say this in the most loving way ;)… May your family be strengthened by the love and blessings coming your way.
Love and Light.
Chrissie Small
an old buggaette
I was very upset to hear the news of Chris’ stroke. I’ve been a fan of Chris’ music for more than 20 years at this point, and so is my wife. We commissioned Chris to make one of his customized versions of “Not Given Lightly” for our wedding six years ago (as I recall, the price was a couple of region 1 horror movie DVDs that weren’t available in New Zealand). My wife and I are given to occasionally sing bits of Chris’ lyrics to each other, particularly from her favorite Knoxsong, “Justification Song” from the Songs for Cleaning Guppies EP. We even have a drawing that Chris and Alec drew when they were touring the US with Olivia Tremor Control in 2005 that hangs in the entrance to our house. In short, we’re big fans, and wish Chris a speedy and full recovery.
Good to know you are getting better. I miss your stints on radio live with Graeme – I could do without Graeme though. My favourite was your tribute to Syd Barrett – supreme tripper and weirdo. Anyways hope you are on the mend. Look forward to more trippy music. Cheers, Luke.
Hey all
There’s a word the computer wouldn’t let me use so I’ve replaced the letter ‘f’ with the letter ‘d’.
I was at the tip the other day and I looked at the tape section and there was a copy of Chris Knox’s Seizure, and I stared at it and thought, duck, yeah, i haven’t sent my support yet, and i’m ashamed to say that i didn’t buy the tape – i can’t believe that in the moment like that i didn’t buy the duckin tape so if anyone out there in wellington wants to get a copy of the seizure tape you’ll find it at the Wellington tip. It’s a bargain too, just one dollar. Put that on trademe and I reckon you’ll fetch a coupla hundy.
But seriously, duck, i am kind of using positive energy when i think about it, and i believe that chris will get through this and if he does he’ll have even more insight than before – and… oh… duck, i don’t know, i just hope that you’ll all be lifted a little by all of the support, and you must be heartened that so many people are thinking of you all – the whole family – and i believe with so many people’s love for you all, you’ll all get through this, and chris will continue to be an inspiration to us all…
Cheers
Duncan
Hi Chris and family.
We just a fans who loves your music.
We were shocked to hear of your stroke. But you will come through as your a strong person and you have the support of NZ behind you.
We wish you all the best and enjoy all the people running around for you.
I told my Partner who is in the states at the moment and he was completely shocked and upset.
He a huge fan of yours hes a music man too.
Love to you and your family
Bridie & Pete.