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.
Don’t leave us, Torch! I’d figured you fall under the Dr. Gonzo exception: “A high-powered mutant of some kind never even considered for mass production. Too weird to live, and too rare to die.”
Wishing you a speedy recovery Jason!
Get well soon!! Great work getting help quickly.
Get well soon Jason
Rest up Torch, and I hope you get well soon!
Hey Torch – joining the chorus of well-wishers for a speedy recovery! And I promise to resume my workouts on the rowing machine.
Get well soon! Awful to hear that happened to him so young, but glad he’s recuperating well.
Jason, I wish you a speedy and complete recovery.
Get well soon, Torch! YOU WILL BE MISSED!
Jason, we’re so thankful for you and your family that you are on the mend. And thank you for being willing to share this with the greater Autopian community so we can share back our support for you. Wishing you a full and speedy recovery to “better than new” condition.
Egad. Good that you got medical attention so quickly and, also importantly, so correctly! Not too many people know about stomach-aches being among the potential symptoms of heart attacks.
Echoing what some 280-plus people have said, good luck to you and your family and best wishes for a quick and successful recovery! Ha, that phrase “successful recovery” might seem redundant but there’s recovery (fixing a broken-down Yugo with hose clamps and a rock) and successful recovery (you did eventually install a new shifter linkage on the Yugo, right? Right? ….Right??)
“Treatment includes surgery to fix the aorta and medicines, such as beta blockers.”
Beta blockers? So no 1970s entry-level luxury model Lancias or 1950s Lancia vans for you then?
Again, good luck to you and your family; hopefully you’ll be back on the road both figuratively and literally sooner rather than later!
Get well Jason! ♥♥♥
Jason, I hope you read this soon and see how much everyone here loves you and hopes you get well soon. So glad you made it out of this OK, with your loving family by your side. We don’t want you leaving us any time soon and they certainly don’t either!
All the best for a quick recovery – looking forward to the “post heart attack” posts!!
I blame the Tesla fans for causing Jason to blow his Aortic valve, I wish him a quick recovery.
Holy freaking sh*t! Aortic dissection is no joke, it quite lethal. I hope we all realize how close we came to losing one of the best of our own.
I’m VERY glad Jason is recovering from this and I can only imagine how scared Sally and Otto must’ve been.
Torch, I hope you have a speedy recovery, and be safe!
Is it true that a raw egg in your blood vessels will plug an aorta hole?
Grandpa said pepper, ground oatmeal, or even old horse dung in an emergency.
-He joined the ‘zipper club’ * in the early 70s
*so-called because the giant scar from open heart surgery somewhat resembled one
Get better soon, Torch! You can’t forget to change out the fluid on those aortas every 5,000 miles!
It sucks that this happened, but glad you’re OK and on the mend. Get well soon Torch!
Best wishes taillight king! Even the deer are pullin’ for you
Reminder of the GoFundMe for his family. If we all chip in a little….
This news elicited an audible “WTF” (the not abbreviated version) from me as I sit alone in my office. Glad you’re getting good care, Torch. Get well!
Yikes, here’s to a quick & smooth recovery!
Can’t wait to have you back Mr. T. Get well soon and stay well please!
Get well Torch, thank you for your super fun perspective on car enthusiasm.
Otto must have been terrified. Glad Jason’s going to be okay, but please give Otto big hugs from all of us.