WARNING!– THESE PHOTOS ARE NASTY– WARNING!
The Day was September 9, 2010…
This was around the time I started playing piano on the streets.
It was a great day and I was playing in front of the fountain in City Hall Park. After about an hour, 2 Cops came over and told me that because of complaints coming from City Hall, I needed to leave. I didnt argue and went to look for another spot.
I wheeled the piano about 4 blocks away near a Whole Foods. They were having a food drive to put a salad bar in some NYC schools and I figured it would be a great way to accompany their fund raiser.
I played for about an hour and a half and even met some of the friendly employees at Whole Foods who hooked me up with some free food. I packed up the piano, finished my sandwich, and started to push my piano back home when the left wheel got stuck in a pothole. The piano tipped backwards. I tried to catch it but the weight sent the piano crashing on the tips of my middle and index fingers of my left hand.
I stood there with my broken hand, in the middle of the street in New York City, staring at my crushed fingers with blood gushing out. I couldnt believe what I was looking at! That is MY hand!
I looked around at the people around me and didnt know what to do.
A woman rushed over to me and sat me down near the fundraising tent. She spoke in a very soothing tone to calm me down, reassuring me that I will be able to play piano again. I started thinking, “Is this really it? Will I be able to move my fingers again?" I sat there holding ice on my hand, not looking at it.
The ambulance never came and I was forced to walk 5 blocks to the downtown hospital, leaving a trail of blood drops on the sidewalk. The doctors told me that they couldnt give any definite statements but that I had multiple fractures in my middle finger and one fracture on my index. This is when the pain began.
This was 5 minutes after the piano fell on my hand.
I've never felt more pain in my entire life. For some reason they had to use an 18 gauge needle to inject numbing solution into my finger tips. It was the loudest I've ever screamed even after they had already given me pain killers. They stuck the needle into the tips of my fingers, the palm of my hand, and the side of my hand.
All in all it was one of the most defining experiences of my entire life.
During the healing process was where I made most of my plans to leave New York CIty and travel around the world with a piano.
I was a total wreck. 90 Days of agony and pain. I did alot of thinking and stayed home for hours in deep depression.
Eventually I got over it and started playing about a month later with the remaining 3 fingers in my left hand.
I began seeing the positive side of the incident. This was definitely the a huge turning point for me which made me realize, if I dont do this now, I probably never will.
There is no better time than NOW!
Below is a video I made in Washington Square park about 3 weeks after breaking my fingers.