Our heart goes out to Basti Artadi, the mestizo lead vocalist of Filipino rock band Wolfgang.
The well-loved musician is raising funds for a procedure called “facial sling” for a medical condition that has left the right side of his face paralyzed.
In a touching Facebook post shared on Tue, Jun 21, Artadi said that his condition is getting worse and it was time to address it even if, at first, he didn’t want to make it public because it would be a distraction from his music.
“In 2009, [they found] a tumor in my head, this tumor is on the nerves that control the right side of my face which is what is causing the paralysis.”
As a result, he wrote, “I had to relearn to sing with a paralyzed mouth and the fatigue that comes with it.”
“Unfortunately it doesn’t end there. Because one side of my facial muscles are working more than the other the inevitable result is that my mouth is slowly being pulled to one side and the doctors have said that I will eventually not be able to talk much less sing. This is why I have decided to do as much as possible in the coming years, singing wise, while I still can.”
According to Artadi, “speculation is I got Bells palsy or a stroke,” though some insensitive folks also suggested that it may be because of the drugs he has taken. (“I have never and do not take drugs.”)
So what is he going to do now? “There is a procedure called a facial sling which could temporarily help my situation.”
He did not mention how much it will cost, or how much money he wants to raise from this, but Artadi is sellng t-shirts to help him fund that procedure.
“It’s just a picture of my face which I thought would be a good symbol for me getting back the lost symmetry, so no it’s not because I’m full of myself,” he writes.
“I thank God everyday because Im lucky that this thing still left me with the ability to sing, what would have really sucked is if it took 100% of motion from the get go. So we move on and we do the best we can with what we have.”
At 6pm on Jun 21, Basti Artadi clarified on Twitter that “it’s not a brain tumor.”
“Guys, I’m not dying,” he wrote. And on another tweet: “Guys I’m just selling shirts!! Just get a shirt that is all! Thank you!”
To order a Basti Artadi shirt (it comes with a CD, PHP550), visit Jeepney Rock Stop on Facebook. Shipping to local and overseas addresses not included. You can also text +63 915 6212189.
An earlier version of this story used ‘brain tumor’ in the headline. We apologize for our mistake.
