On Monday night I received a call from Jason Torchinsky’s wife, Sally, who informed me that Jason had suffered what seemed at the time like early stages of a heart attack. With intense chest and stomach pain, Jason had to be take in an ambulance to the local hospital, where he underwent surgery for a tear in his aorta. The Taillight-King is currently recovering, and seems in good spirits.
I’m gonna keep this blog short, because there’s a lot rushing through my mind at the moment. Jason Torchinsky is, of course, way, way more than my coworker, he’s one of my closest friends and a titan in the automotive media world who has made cars fun and approachable in ways that nobody has ever done before. Squid cars? Ham bumpers? Sushi taillights? An entire world themed around taillight gangs? I could go on and on. Jason is the soul of The Autopian, just as he was the soul of the German Lighting Site, but more than that, he’s an amazing, one-of-one human being with an awesome wife, Sally, and fantastic son, Otto. Which is why I’m so glad to hear that Jason is recovering well after surgery.
What happened is something called “Aortic dissection.” Here’s a little primer on this rather serious condition via St. Clair Hospital’s website:
An aortic dissection is a medical emergency. In this condition, a tear occurs in the inner layer of the large blood vessel branching off the heart. This blood vessel is called the aorta. Aortic dissection is most common in men in their 60s and 70s.Symptoms include sudden, severe chest pain that spreads to the neck or down the back and sudden stomach pain. Other symptoms include loss of consciousness, shortness of breath, and stroke symptoms such as trouble seeing, speaking or moving. Treatment includes surgery to fix the aorta and medicines, such as beta blockers.
He’ll be back here blogging crazy taillight blogs before you know it, but until then, he’ll take a nice, long, well-deserved and much-needed break.
We love you, Torch. Get well soon so we can fix your Beetle’s engine. And your F-150’s flywheel. And your Pao’s hood. And the Tiguan’s…Volkswagen-iness. And your RV’s…everything. Actually, forget I mentioned those — you don’t need that stress in your life. Just relax and enjoy the holiday season.
UPDATE: You can support Jason HERE.
Wishing Jason a quick recovery, but maybe pad the recovery numbers a little and get some well deserved rest.
Okay, fine, I’ll renew my membership! Just let him recover and come back!
That is scary! Glad you’re on the mend Torch! Take all the time you need, and feel better my man!
Get well soon Torch, you are the lamp that lights our taillights.
Take you time and recover Torch. We’ll patiently wait for your return!
Wishing you a quick and full recovery!
Damn! Glad you are on the mend Torch. Scary stuff.
Get better soon, Torch!
Best wishes and Get well soon!
can’t imagine how scared and worried you all are/were, take care of your aortas and associated innards indeed.
Scary AF. Glad Torch is healing.
Get well Torch! We need your sense of humor, your love of all things strange, and your ability to drive the oddest vehicles back as soon as you are feeling better! You & David are what got this non-mechanically inclined computer nerd into reading about cars!
Oh Geesh. Glad you are doing better Torch. Best wishes for a speedy recovery.
No jokes, get better Torch!
But please don’t masturbate in front of the EMTs
As an volunteer EMT, I strongly support this request.
In front of who, then?
Ferdinand Piëch’s grave, presumably.
Too soon?
Piëch’s Folly? No, that’s Piëch’s Fapping.
Hey Jason, get well soon. I am at risk for this same crap, I even take beta blockers. Be happy to know that at least one of your readers is, in fact, taking care of his aorta!
Wishing him a quick recovery, and peace to his wife, kid, and Autopian family.
I’m sorry to hear about that and glad that he’s doing alright now…Thank you for letting us know!
Thank heaven for modern medical treatment. Get feeling well soon Torch!
Oh man, so glad to hear Torch is pulling through and on the mend. Sending nothing but love and support, get well soon!
Get well soon Torch! We need more ChangLi and taillight content.
Torch, sending you positives vibes and strength for your recovery.
Glad you got speedy attention! The world needs demented wordsmiths that make you laugh, and think! Can they do any performance mods while you’re in the shop?
Doc: ‘I need to get into this guy’s chest cavity to do a critical repair to save his life’
*eyes the battery acid soaked chainsaw in the back of the Changli that the patient was “rushed” to the hospital in*
Doc: ‘Looks like I’ve found the perfect tool for the job!’
In all seriousness though I’m glad you had an organic mechanic to sort you out, just make sure to take all the time you need to recover. Also shell out the extra coin to get quality food brought to you in the hospital, hospital food is horrible for you and several studies have shown it actually increases the duration of your hospital stay.
Kinda need to know the back story on that photo!
Hopefully they didn’t use the two hose clamps and a rock method you’re so fond of.
Switching back to sincerity from humor used to mask concern, I hope you get well soon! Please take it easy!
I’d also like to comment that only at The Autopian does the announcement of someone’s health scare include useful research to describe the issue in great detail. Never change.
Holy shit. I was just thinking this morning that he’d been conspicuously absent on the Cold Starts. Get well soon, Torch. Sending good juju your way
I prefer Cold Starts to being stopped cold. Get well soon, Jason.