Terry Luttrell of REO Speedwagon is on the mend after surviving a terrifying car crash over the weekend.
The rocker, who is the band’s original lead singer, rolled his vehicle after he fell asleep at the wheel on Interstate 57 in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois on Sunday morning, according to the News-Gazette.
The airbag deployed during the crash, causing Luttrell to sustain a cracked sternum.
Luttrell, 78, described the horror incident in a phone call with the outlet from his hospital bed, revealing he awoke from the crash surrounded by the airbags.
The crash occurred following a long night which saw Luttrell perform at the State Farm Center with his band followed by autograph-signing at an afterparty.
Luttrell left the party at 2AM and didn’t get to bed until 4:30AM.
Terry Luttrell of REO Speedwagon is on the mend after surviving a car crash; pictured 1977
But his rest was short-lived, as he was back driving just a few hours later, with the keyboard player from REO Classics following him on the road.
While Luttrell admitted to feeling ‘a little bit sleepy’, he believed he would be fine to drive.
‘It just happened,’ the rocker said. ‘I nodded off. I rolled the car over, and I woke up and I was in a cocoon (the airbags). Unfortunately, it totaled the car.’
Luttrell was taken to the hospital and plans on remaining there for several more days to undergo rehab.
‘I was able to get up and get out of the car,’ he told the outlet. ‘The airbag went off and cracked my sternum a little bit.
‘I have a little back pain and neck pain. It’s nothing that can’t be overcome,’ he added.
As fate would have it, several of the nurses who cared for him attended his Saturday night concert.
Luttrell said the concert ‘was a good show all the way around.’
The rocker, 78, rolled his vehicle after he fell asleep at the wheel on Interstate 57 in Champaign-Urbana, Illinois on Sunday morning, according to the News-Gazette; pictured 1977
