Benefit show to aid John Abbott grad left a quadriplegic after skiing accident
A benefit musical show will be held Friday at John Abbott College to help defray re-adaptation costs of Lesley Head, a former JAC student who was left a quadriplegic following a 2016 ski accident.
The Stowaway show is billed as a “Celtic Musical Journey” featuring Mariner’s Curse, a Montreal Celtic folk/rock group. They will be joined by Craig Weir, a Scottish musician and bagpiper who has performed before the Queen and once played alongside the rock band Queen.
The show takes places Friday at 8 p.m. in the Casgrain Theatre of John Abbott College in Ste-Annede-Bellevue. Tickets are $25, and $20 for students.
A portion of the proceeds will go to the Lesley Head Spinal Injury Fund, said Chris Brown, one of the event organizers.
Head, a John Abbott graduate, suffered a spinal cord injury on April 9, 2016, while skiing with friends at Whistler Mountain in B.C.
She was airlifted to Vancouver General Hospital, where doctors discovered she had suffered a fracture of the cervical spine at C5. Head underwent two surgeries and spent three months in the intensive care and spinal ward unit.
A gofundme campaign launched in Head’s name has raised $128,000 towards a goal of $200,000.
Brown said Friday’s benefit show will contribute to that total.
“We have some overhead but the primary cut and thrust of this is to make a large donation toward the Lesley Head benefit foundation, so she can basically equip herself,” Brown said.
“She’s out west (in Vancouver) now, but she’s originally from Montreal. She has a strong network of friends out there who are trying to help her adapt to these very difficult new circumstances.
“The college is not charging us any rental fee,” Brown added. “They waived those charges to help raise funds for a former graduate.”
Head graduated from Abbott in 2007 in the technical production section of the theatre program, said Brown, who was chairperson of the JAC theatre department.
“I taught Lesley. She was in the stage management side of theatre before she moved out west to pursue a career in theatre,” Brown said.
“She was also a very keen sports woman. Out west, she was able to work in theatre and indulge in her passion of downhill skiing. Then in April of 2016, she had this terrible ski accident and she was lucky to be alive. She’s now quadriplegic and needs all kinds of special equipment and transportation and a lot of re-adaptation.”
Brown is hoping for a big turnout Friday so that organizers will be able to make a sizable donation to the cause.
“The Casgrain Theatre holds 300 people, so we want to put 300 bums in the seats,” he said.
Brown said patrons of Celtic culture will be entertained by the show, which will feature traditional and original music as well as Celtic dancing.
There will also be a cash bar. Brown said the idea for the Stowaway show came about from a collaboration between Weir, musician Jonathan Moorman and the rest of the members of Mariner’s Curse, who wanted to highlight the “contribution of the Scots to the settlement of Canada and to the great mosaic that is Canadian culture” during Canada’s 150th anniversary.
Brown said Weir has built an international reputation as a bagpiper, and has played before dignitaries like the Dalai Lama and Queen Elizabeth.
Weir has also done gigs for personalities such as tennis star Andy Murray, former Manchester United manager Sir Alex Ferguson and Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Tickets for the Stowaway show can be purchased at the door or online at www.brownpapertickets.com.