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Mailing Address:
The Young People's Project
99 Bishop Allen Drive
Cambridge, Ma 02139
617.354.8991 PHONE
617.354.8997 FAX
Eight months after Hurricane Katrina while still evacuated from his city, Hot 8 trumpet player Terrell 'Burger' Batiste was in a near fatal automobile accident in which he lost both of his legs.
Band Leader Benny 'Big Benny' Pete, recalls the band's first visit to see their bandmate after the accident. "The first question Burger asked was if he was still in the band. At first I was like 'man you tripping. I wouldn't even be worrying about no band if I was you', I was thinking in my mind. Then I had to realize, really all of us, that was our dream - to be in a band and really succeed as a band. I said, 'Long as you can play, you're in the band'."
"The doctors' told me 'You're really not supposed to be here. You had so much infection from the debris on the interstate in your legs that you're supposed to be just waist.' So, me taking it like that, I said, "there's a reason I'm still here." I'm not gonna question God for what it is. Maybe it's music. Because I love it with a passion. I love playing with the band...But by me going thru so much, losing my grandmother, the band losing so much - trombone player shot down by the police, I was going thru a depression. Just feeling like 'I'm just so ready to go.' I was just tired of it, tired of life. So I'm really glad that part of my life, the depression, is over cause look what I'd be missing out on."
"Yesterday was so pretty," Batiste says, grinning wide. "I rolled the windows down and said 'Boy it's good to be alive just to witness this day!' Beautiful days make me feel good - I'm glad I'm still here. The band playing, sounding better than we ever have. And my son, for him to see me like this and for him to see that I'm still going and know nothing's gonna get in my way. It shows him and when he has his son, he's gonna say, 'Boy, my daddy had NO LEGS and he still toured the world and worked! So you can't let nothing stop you. You can't let nothing get in your way and I'm not accepting no excuses.' "
Please read the complete article as it appears on Nola.com:
http://blog.nola.com/notesonneworleans/2009/02/facing_down_fate_forging_a_des.html
Please support FOF and the Hot 8 Brass Band in our effort to raise $200,000 for the Terrell Batiste Fund. All funds will go to support Terrell in being able to purchase the modern titanium or 'sea legs' prosthetic, which range in cost around $100,000 dollars per leg. Terrell is a symbol of self-determination, resilience and hope for all of us.
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