Our Own Jason Torchinsky Had Emergency Heart Surgery But He’s Going To Be OK Because He’s Strong And We Love Him And He Has Many More Taillight Blogs To Write

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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.
This morning, Sally asked Jason if he wants to say anything to readers. In classic Torch shape, he hit us with something silly: “Don’t neglect your aortas.”
Profound.
“Also, he misses them and he’s looking forward to being back,” Sally told me after mentioning that Jason is up and walking, though doesn’t remember what happened.

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.

358 thoughts on “Our Own Jason Torchinsky Had Emergency Heart Surgery But He’s Going To Be OK Because He’s Strong And We Love Him And He Has Many More Taillight Blogs To Write

  1. See, this is why you need to run your Torch through diagnostics during routine maintenance. Now that he’s a certain age, of course. Get better soon, my dude!

  2. Dear Jason, I’m sorry to hear the news, but I’m much relieved that you are recovering just fine. All the best for you, for Sally and Otto. And the three-legged dog (is she still around?) and the other dog-dude. You guys rock.
    And thanks David for letting us know, and send lots of love to our favorite nutcase and his family.
    Hugs to the whole Autopian family, staff and comentariat included.

  3. Humour is pain turned sideways or something like that…

    Please tell me they didn’t cut the Beetle shirt!

    listen, I don’t have a goat, so I’ll fire up the hibachi and send the fumes from an old self-cleaning Mercedes 123 tailight up to whichever deity may be on watch for ya, Torch

  4. Glad you got to the hospital in time, Torch! I actually know 3 people who had aortic dissections and all of them are still going strong years later. You can look forward to some very weird massages in your future. Feel better soon!

  5. I was gping to try to make a joke, but there aren’t any I can make. Please get better, Torch. Spend an awesome holiday with your family, and don’t worry about us, or the site, or anything like that. Focus on your health and coming back strong.

  6. Best wishes Torch and family.
    Heart stuff is no joke. I’ll be under the knife in a couple of weeks for open heart surgery. Can’t say I am looking forward to it, but I am looking forward to being able to a brisk walk and not feeling like my chest will explode.

  7. Life altering things come to all of us. I’m happy to know Jason’s issue was caught in time. How many times have we heard after events like this that “You have to live each day to the fullest; as if it’s your last”?

    Jason and his merry bunch of automotive funsters are living each day to the max. It shows in each story they post in Autopian. Get better my friend and keep on, keeping on!

  8. Quick recovery wishes to you, Jason. If you haven’t done my November birthday drawing yet, please skip it. If it’s already in the mail, I’ll just have to bear the guilt that I was the one who did this to you.

  9. As a man of a certain age, this is my worst nightmare. No, not having a heart attack, losing Torch! Hang in there, man, and don’t get so worked up over stupid shit like the Veyron!

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