Matthew Sweet has shared an update after suffering a stroke in October.
In a post to his GoFundMe page, which launched to assist him with medical expenses, the “Girlfriend” rocker recalls what it felt like when the stroke hit him, writing, “I was colder than I’ve ever been and an icy sweat came from every pore.”
“Then I heard a deafening white noise in both my ears growing, and growing and growing in volume, and my eyes started to scramble like eggs in a pan,” Sweet writes.
Sweet, 60, was transported from Toronto, where he suffered the stroke, to a rehabilitation hospital in Omaha, Nebraska.
“As I learned to walk, bathe, strengthen my legs, learn what hard work really was, I cried many times at my terrible fate,” Sweet writes. “And yet I also was so thankful for the fate I had in life, because it was a wonderful fate, and I was so lucky and found everything I wanted again and again and again.”
Sweet adds that he “may never play guitar again,” but feels hope thanks to those who’ve contributed to the GoFundMe, which was now raised over $500,000 after starting with an initial $250,000 goal.
“I must just say thank you to you for giving me this help,” Sweet writes. “This hope I cannot feel whether I could have had on my own.”
“I will try to make music. I will try to,” he continues. “I will try to make art. I will try to express myself, because that is all I have ever known and all that has ever brought me joy, throughout a life filled with more sadness than anyone could know what to do with, than any of us know what to do with, and that’s life.”
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.