Burton Cummings recovering from several injuries suffered in crash

Canadian music icon Burton Cummings says he is recovering from several injuries he suffered in a car crash last Sunday in Los Angeles.

In a lengthy Facebook post, the Winnipeg rocker and former frontman for The Guess Who writes that he was struck by a driver who ran a red light and that there were five people in the other car, including a baby.

Cummings said he suffered a concussion due to his head cracking the windshield in addition to cuts and “serious bruising on both arms,” a very painful left leg and intense back pain.

He wrote that he’s in a “lot of physical pain” and needs some “serious healing time,” adding he’s “trying to focus on just how lucky” he is not to have been killed or crippled.

Cummings said the worst thing is that his mind has been “reliving the crash … that sound and fear and unexpected horror.”

“I know I’m going to have to get some help getting over the shock. That’s the worst part right now … trying to keep telling myself that I’m okay.”

Cummings, 70, spent 10 years with The Guess Who until 1975. He wrote or co-wrote many of the band’s hits, including “American Woman,” “No Time,” “Laughing” and “These Eyes.”

The Winnipeg native’s solo career included such hits as “Stand Tall” and “My Own Way to Rock.”

Cummings wrote that the accident happened after he was summoned to Los Angeles for jury duty but was dismissed due to the Winnipeg Jets’ playoff status and was hoping to make it to Winnipeg to sing the anthems at a later game.

Inducted into the Canadian Music Hall of Fame as a member of the Guess Who in 1987, Cummings won four Juno Awards as a solo artist and two with his former band.

The Canadian Press