Communities mobilize to help Chicago musician seriously injured in crash – NBC Chicago

Chicago musician Chihsuan Yang was released from a hospital after a horrific accident that broke her back in two places, and now the city’s music community is coming together to help.
Yang, a Chicago resident who now lives in Los Angeles, was injured in an accident that injured her partner and daughter last month. She suffered numerous injuries, including a broken back and several hand injuries.
âThe pinky was of concern to me because I’m a musician,â Yang said. âIt’s going to take six weeks to heal. I had an x-ray and she still has a crack.
Yang spent 15 years in the Chicago music community. These relationships have been pivotal lately in securing help from Yang on the next steps in her recovery, with Chamber Blues founder Corky Siegel among those reaching out.
Just as Yang was due to be discharged from the hospital, she encountered other complications, requiring surgery.
âThey had to cut out two sections of my small intestine,â she said. âIt was already leaking. If I had gone home, I would probably be dead.
While in her hospital bed, she finally received a sign that her fortunes were slowly turning when she saw a major TV ad campaign featuring one of her compositions.
âI was watching Emmy’s, and all of a sudden the commercial came in for the first time,â she said. âI’m not sure what the universe was trying to tell me. It was a funny and ironic moment.
Even with these moments of lightness, she still faces a difficult road to travel. Medical bills continue to rise and his friends in Chicago and Los Angeles are rallying to help him, raising tens of thousands of dollars through online fundraisers.
Yang’s goal is ultimately to get back to Chicago and play music again, and her friends are ready for her to do so.
âIf we have to rewrite the music so that she can play without her pinky, we will,â Siegel said. “That’s how much we love him.”