The family of Big Jeff Johns have shared a new update about his health following a recent house fire.
The accidental fire, which happened in early June, left Johns “seriously injured” and requiring care in a specialist burns unit in Wales.
A statement shared with NME on June 13 said: “Jeff Johns, known to all as Big Jeff, has been very seriously injured in a fire at his home in Bristol. He is in a specialist burns unit in Swansea in a stable condition. His family have asked for people to keep Jeff in their thoughts and prayers at this very difficult time. His friends have set up a playlist on Spotify ‘Play a record for Big Jeff’.”
Johns was in intensive care, “unconscious” and under “heavy sedation” for a time following the accident. In late June, his family revealed Johns had managed to come off his ventilator, was conscious and had started to make “some good progress”.
Now, his family have shared a further update saying Johns is “doing well” and that he’s now “able to eat”.
They said in a statement: “It’s been six weeks since his accident at home and we are pleased to be able to tell you that he’s doing well and now able to eat.
“He’s receiving lots of physio to assist with getting him back on his feet and mobile again. Jeff would like to pass on his appreciation to all the staff in the burns unit, he’s told us he couldn’t be better looked after.”
They released a message that Johns himself shared to his Facebook friends last week too. “Thanks for all the love and everything, looking forward towards getting back to being with you guys with spirit and determination. I can’t wait to see you guys.”
They also shared a photo of Johns as he recovers from his injuries, which you can see below.
Johns is widely known as Bristol’s most frequent gig-goer, having attended live shows every night of the week at venues across the city before the UK lockdown was implemented back in March 2020. He is renowned for being a regular and enthusiastic attendee at thousands of shows around the region, and the UK.
Speaking to NME earlier this year during Independent Venue Week, Johns described his love of gig going, and said gig spaces are “basically my churches”.
“They’ve been safe spaces for me for years,” he said. “You see communities you’ll never meet anywhere else. It’s not just the artists, they develop people who are going to go into running their own venues or record labels, music journalists, or people who go into stage tech and sound engineering.”
He continued: “You go somewhere like The Louisiana in Bristol or the Hebden Bridge Trades Club or The Boileroom in Guildford and you’ll meet an entire community.”
Last year, Johns launched his first ever art exhibition. Welcome To My World opened on February 3, featuring 34 paintings of the artists who have proved to be an inspiration, including folk singer Gaelynn Lea Tressler and the Bristol trumpeter Pete Judge.
Exhibition curator Lee Dodds said: “We have been working with Jeff for a couple of years now, after discovering his brilliant talent after he posted a photo of Raggs on Facebook. His paintings are uplifting and will definitely be popular with music fans and art collectors in Bristol and beyond.”
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