Sharda Rocks On

Just after midnight on August 12, Erick Sharda, the frontman for the band the Popsicles, was biking near West 38th Street and Baltimore when he was struck by a black Ford Mustang. The driver sped off, leaving the severely injured Sharda for dead. Discovered by a stranger, the bleeding cyclist was taken to KU Medical Center. The initial prognosis was grim: Sharda’s skull was fractured, his shoulder was broken and his lungs were battered. But Sharda’s sky-high temperature and the bleeding in his brain most concerned his doctors. During 11 days in intensive care, he needed tubes to breathe and eat and surgery to repair broken bones. He communicated with his family only with a simple thumbs-up. After six weeks of hospitalization, he was just well enough to start intensive rehab sessions. What will linger even longer than the broken bones, though, are the staggering medical costs associated with the hit-and-run — especially for an independent musician without health insurance. (To read the sad stories of other injured cyclists, see our cover story on page 14.) Tonight, a handful of local bands are playing an Erick Sharda benefit concert to take some of the financial heat off him. The show starts at 9:45 p.m. at the Record Bar (1020 Westport Road, 816-753-5207). Suggested donation is $10. To read more of Sharda’s story, see erick-info.livejour nal.com.

Thu., Nov. 8, 2007