At 23, Jason Gerling was an aspiring drummer with a promising future. Drumming professionally since he was sixteen, success seemed no more than a beat a way.
On March 27, 1994, while driving home from a late-night performance, Jason Gerling fell asleep behind the wheel of his car about fifteen years ago. After the accident Jason was told he wouldn't have the use of his arms and legs.
With a great amount of effort and therapy Jason Gerling has regained the use of his hands and has created a straw design which triggers his cymbals and drums to simulate how an able drummer would keep the beat.
When some college colleagues learned about his musical past, they approached him to do a concert, and despite his reservations, he did. Gerling picked up his drumsticks by the end of 1995, only one year after the accident. "It was like freedom, just the sense of accomplishment to just be able to hold a drumstick again. Because when I was in the hospital I couldn't even pick up a checker when I was trying to play a game of Connect Four."
From that moment on, he knew drumming had to be part of his life, somehow. "Whether it was just a hobby or whatever," remembers Gerling, "but the seed was planted and I had to continue with this art because it was such a part of my life, my identity. Everything about me had to do with the drums."
By 2004, Gerling was once again a professional drummer, but he was starting to realize his unique position as a disabled drummer, and the opportunity it presented him. It allows him to do something much more powerful than just play music, he could inspire others.
