Cummings in pain after car crash

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

In a Facebook post, the Winnipeg rocker and former frontman for the Guess Who, who has a property near Elk Lake in Saanich, wrote that he was struck by a driver who ran a red light. There were five people in the other car, including a baby, Cummings wrote.

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

Cummings 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.

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

“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 OK.”

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.

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