Pat Mackin On Slow Road To Recovery After Car Crash

MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) - There is a long road ahead for a Minnesota musician badly hurt in a car crash.

Pat Mackin has played with musicians like Bonnie Raitt. On Dec. 3, he was leaving a gig at the Minnesota Music Cafe, where he played with Jay Bee and the Routine, when police say Alexandria Clark broadsided him.

Just two days before the crash, she was in jail for driving with a revoked license. And she'd pleaded guilty to no proof of insurance in a different accident earlier last year.

The accident at St. Anthony and Snelling avenues in St. Paul left Mackin with such critical injuries that, when his wife got to the hospital, doctors thought he might not survive them.

"I said, 'He's not going to make it, is he?' And he said, 'He might not make it,'" Jeanine Brudenell said.

Brudenell said the next few days were a blur. Mackin broke his neck, needed several surgeries and suffered a stroke after one of them, leaving the talented saxophonist and avid climber paralyzed on his right side.

"There are days that are just heartbreaking, and there are days where you're just elated, because of some of things that he can get through, and they're such small things," Brudenell said.

He's been on a ventilator since the accident, but Brudenell is hopeful he'll breathe on his own soon.

Lately, Mackin has been trying to talk. Brudenell said Mackin says her name.

"He's tried to say other things, but he still needs to re-learn how to use his vocal chords," she said.

There are moments where Brudenell sees a glimpse of the strong man she married 16 years ago.

"If you're telling him a story or a joke he thinks is funny, he'll laugh, he'll smile, he'll give a thumbs up," Brudenell said.

It's those moments she chooses to focus on to keep faith in his recovery.

"I am hopeful because I know how strong and determined and stubborn he is," Brudenell said. "He always figures out a way to make things work."

Brudenell said it will likely take Mackin years to recover.

She is working on making their home wheelchair accessible. A fund has been set up in his name at Wells Fargo. If you'd like to make a donation, ask for the "Pat Mackin Donation Trust."

The driver of the other vehicle, Alexandria Clark, has not been charged in the accident. Toxicology tests are being done.