(Publisher’s Note: At the time this feature was composed, Brett was determined to entertain us again, but yesterday The Lord called him to the Heavens. LEDE News is publishing this story once again to remind all of us of his gentle soul and of the love he held in his heart for his family, his friends, and his fans. Godspeed, Brett.)
A pebble. In his left boot. About two years ago.
Brett Cain is a big dude, too, and he was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes 15 years ago. That damn pebble worked its way into his left heel.
“And my life has been hell ever since,” said one of the Upper Ohio Valley’s favorite live performers. “Since, the wound the pebble caused got infected, and it went all the way to the bones, and they have had to remove some of those bones in my foot.
“That damn pebble ruined my life. I have nothing. And the pain I can’t even explain to people,” Cain explained. “If I could get these two chronic wounds to heal, I’d be fine, but it’s been a constant battle. I’ve been in and out of hospitals where most of the people thought I was going to die.”
Brett Cain almost did die.
“I’ve been through the war of all wars,” Cain said. “I am at home now after another week in the hospital, and I have a chronic foot wound that remains wide open and goes all the way down to the bone. I also have a wide-open wound on my rear end that took place when I was in a coma. They left me for dead, basically, when I was in the coma down in Morgantown.
“They didn’t move me for 12 days. Who does that to a person in a coma? Well, based on the wound I have, they did down there,” he said. “Right now I can’t stand, and I can’t sit real well. I have to be very careful how I move around so it doesn’t happen again in another area of my body.”
A Roadhouse Reunion?
Some who have come out of a coma have insisted they could hear people speaking to them, and others have reported nothing but darkness.
For Brett Cain, it was a dream. A looping dream to be exact, in fact. And there were a few most interesting twists, as well.
“When I was in the coma, I didn’t hear anyone say anything to me, but I was dreaming some crazy crap; I can tell you that,” Cain recalled. “In my dream, I was stuck in the movie, ‘Roadhouse.’ You know, the one with Patrick Swayze, and it was just me and my dead brother Shawn. He and I were fighting these guys with long mullets. That’s all I did for two weeks when I was in that coma.”
Shawn passed away in 2013 at the age of 39 after suffering from Type 2 diabetes and heart complications, and unfortunately during Cain’s dream there wasn’t a brother-to-brother kind of conversation.
“Just one fight after another, I’m telling you,” Cain said. “In the dream, though, I wasn’t Dalton or Wade Garrett. And I didn’t see Wesley either, or I would have punched that dude for sure. Shawn and I just kept getting into fights in that bar. It was constant craziness.
“When I came out of the coma,” he continued, “they told me I was still swinging, and a bunch of them had to get on top of me because I was swinging at nothing.”
“Take A Look Inside”
If Brett Cain ends up losing his left leg to diabetes, he would not be the first family member to endure amputation, but that family history also represents the reason why he’s not moved forward with the option.
“There have been discussions about amputating my left foot, and honestly, I believe it will come down to that,” the performer admitted. “One of the reasons it hasn’t happened yet is because both my great-grandfather and my grandfather died shortly after they had legs amputated, and that has me worried. I’m not ready to die, ya know?
“They died a long time ago, though, and I am sure that the medical people are much better with those procedures these days, but still,” he continued. “So, yes, there is a history in my family of having diabetes and losing legs.”
Since his most recent release from the hospital, Brett Cain has been playing a lot of guitar because he has planned a Facebook Live performance for this Saturday at 9 p.m.
“Now that I am home again, I just try to sit and heal and get my guitar back,” he explained. “When I first came home from Morgantown, I had a lot of numbness in my hands, and it’s been a process getting feeling back into my fingers. So, I’ve been playing a lot, and that has helped with getting the feeling back.
“I want to make music again; that’s what I think about all day long,” Cain said. “I want to perform for people and make them happy again. That’s the goal. That’s the dream come true right now.”
Soon after the coronavirus pandemic began, Brett Cain played a few virtual shows, but then the infection in that left foot of his went septic, and he was rushed to a local hospital and then transported to the Morgantown medical facility. Since he emerged from the coma in late November, though, he’s spent time only with family and close friends while getting his bearings back.
There are daily visits by nurses who treat his wounds, and Cain does spend time online. That is, after all, how he has seen the overwhelming support he’s received from his fans.
In fact, Brett Cain has this message for those folks:
“I want to tell all of the people who used to come see me play thank you for all of the prayers because I would have never made it this far without them. I wouldn’t have woken up from that coma without them. Trust me, folks. I am doing everything I can so I can get back to normal and start rocking this Valley again.
“When that happens, it’s going to be emotional for sure. I’m sure I’ll get choked up and shed some tears, but they will be happy tears for sure, and I just can’t wait. I love you all. Thank you so very much. God bless you all.”
