Glass Animals have announced that they have cancelled their European and North American tour after drummer Joe Seaward was hit by a truck in Dublin while cycling.
The UK band, who recently played at Forbidden Fruit, shared the news on their social media platforms, with singer Dave Bayley saying Seaward is recovering from a broken leg and has had operations to reshape his skull.
"Last monday my best friend, and our drummer Joe was hit by a truck while on his bike here in Dublin," the post reads. "His leg was broken on impact and he became tangled in the truck’s trailer where his skull suffered a complex fracture."
"Miraculously, and thankfully, he is alive. After a couple of long operations he is now on the road to recovery. It’s going to be a long, difficult, and winding road, but knowing how determined Joe is, and seeing how much his body has recovered already in the past 10 days, I am so optimistic that he will make it back to his cheeky old self," frontman Bayley said.
Speaking about Seaward's injuries he added, "This past week Joe has been under general anaesthetic twice. First for neurosurgery and second for his leg. The neurosurgery consisted of reshaping part of his skull that had collapsed and been compressed into the brain by the weight of the truck’s trailer.
"The operation was successful, but the collapsed skull had bruised and damaged the area of the brain responsible for speech. Initially Joe was only able to get out one word...’I’...but each day he is finding more."
Due to Seaward's injuries, and the long road of recovery ahead, the band have cancelled all of their upcoming tour dates.
Concluding the statement on behalf of the band, Bayley said, "I wish more than anything that this accident hadn’t happened and that Joe was ok and that we would still be coming to hang with you all, but life has thrown something horribly sad and unexpected at us, and we need to do everything in our power to conquer it and get Joe back on his feet.
"I sincerely hope you understand. We will be back as soon as we can, and stronger than ever."
