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.
Otto must have been terrified. Glad Jason’s going to be okay, but please give Otto big hugs from all of us.
Get well soon, glad to hear he’s doing ok
You just know he’s writing down notes about some new insane article he’s going to write about radio knobs, or power window switches.
Or ambulances. I wonder if they took him in one of those Beetle ambulances?
All the best!
get well, Jason!
Best wishes and happy healing!
Holy Shitballs. Rest up, Jason! I’m glad you did not take David’s advice and intravenously administer a bottle of Bar’s Leaks.
Man, that’s serious! Is there nothing on Autopian that doesn’t leak? 🙂 So glad they caught it in time.
A torn aorta took John Ritter and Ill be damned if it takes Jason Torchinsky. Glad Torch got to the doctor in time. Im glad the autopian and the german lighting sight got mentioned but Torch is also a dedicated retro gamer/retro computer nerd. Get well soon.
Yikes! Jason Torchinsky, you’re a lucky man. My mom had an abdominal aortic aneurysm, and they were VERY clear to us on how dangerous it would have been if it had let go. Take it easy, do what the doctors tell you, and maybe cut down on the recreational lead-exposure. We’re all pulling for you.
You are correct about abdominal aortic aneurysms. That is how I lost my Dad.
Where should I put the bouquet of taillights?
Feel better Torch!
Take care Torch, you have a huge bunch of gearheads pulling for you.
Take it easy Torch.
Take care Torch!
Nice shirt ! We will miss you but take as long as you need to recover.
Get well soon, Torch!
I can’t think of anything witty or clever right now.
All the best, Torch. Hang in there!
Just saw the newsletter…that was scary. Hope you feel better soon, Torch! Take all the time you need to rest and recover.
Sending healing vibes!
Oh no! Best wishes for a full and speedy recovery. Get well soon!!!
Catching that before it actually bursts is pretty lucky. If it bursts, game is over in seconds. And recover is no joke after surgery either.
So great to hear it was catched early and good luck on recovery!
Get well soon Torch! Take some time and relax: you deserve it.
Wishing you a complete and speedy recovery. Don’t rush your rehab, and follow your doctors’ instructions. We’ll all be here when you get back.
Get well Torch!
(I blame it on Musk and his stupid FSD. That’ll blow anyone’s aorta).