Walking, standing, even sitting up was easy to take for granted.
After all, Jim Coleman had been doing it for almost his entire life. Throughout his 23-year military career, he never had any problems with his physical fitness requirements. When he wasn’t busy with the military, he was an accomplished drummer, performing in local rock bands and working the bass pedals with aplomb.
The Franklin resident never imagined what life would be like without those things. Until one morning, when Coleman woke up and was unable to feel or move his body below his waist.
“You don’t appreciate it before you lose it,” he said.
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The seemingly freak injury may have caught Coleman off-guard, but he quickly regrouped to get treated. Surgery was performed on his spinal column, and through months of arduous physical therapy, he was able to relearn standing and walking.
He also taught himself to play the drums again. For the past four years, he has again been active in the Indiana rock music scene, even as it takes a lot out of him physically.
Now, Coleman is ready to retire from performing. To celebrate it, as well as his retirement from the military years before, he’ll be hosting a public party Saturday. He’ll be joined by an “all-star” team of fellow musicians and friends, who hope to make his last time on stage a memorable one.
“I thought this would be a good way to go out,” Coleman said. “I definitely need to step back away from it for a while. I’ve always played because I want to. If you’re not having fun, it might as well be a job. So now is a good time to step back.”
Coleman started playing the drums when he was only 7 years old, receiving his first drum set on Christmas Day 1968.
“Bless my mom’s heart. She must have been an angel. You know how terrible it had to be hearing a kid learn to play the drums in the house,” he said.
Throughout grade school and later high school, he continued playing. He joined the U.S. Army after graduation, following in the military footsteps of his father and brothers. After serving a full tour of duty in the 1980s, he signed up to be in the Indiana National Guard and worked full-time with it, stationed at Camp Atterbury.
During this time, he was still drumming, playing local bars with a band.
“The military helped me put food on the table and feed my family, and then my wife, who I met when I was playing, she supported both the military and me playing music,” he said.
Though at times Coleman would take a break from drumming, he always seemed to come back to it. Music also gave him a way to occupy his time after retiring from the military in 2002, after 23 years of service.
“I’ve been lucky with it. I never expected to make a living playing, but I’ve always been really happy with it,” he said.
Coleman’s life took an unexpected turn in October 2015, though. At the time, he was on a break from playing drums. He had been having back issues, seeing doctors, therapists and chiropractors to solve the problem. No one could figure out what was causing the pain.
On the morning before his 55th birthday, he woke up paralyzed from the waist down.
“My spinal column had collapsed. When it did, it pinched my spinal cord closed,” he said. “It was like erasing a chalkboard; I lost all muscle memory from the waist down.”
Panicked, Coleman called family and was taken to the Roudabush VA Medical Center in Indianapolis for emergency surgery on his spinal cord. Immediate surgery was imperative; doctors told him that if the condition isn’t repaired in 48 hours, the damage is permanent.
The surgery was successful, and to recover, Coleman was transferred to the Hines VA Medical Center in Chicago, which specializes in caring for veterans with spinal injuries.
Every day for weeks, he’d work through exercises to hopefully help him regain use of his legs and feet. Therapy lasted two to four hours every day, six days a week. He had to learn all the movements and skills that he had never thought about, such as flexing his ankles to keep his balance while standing, or even sitting upright.
“You see a 7- or 8-month-old baby (and) they don’t know how to sit up. They don’t know how to use their butt muscles to stay up. I didn’t know that; the first time I sat in the shower, I rolled right over,” he said.
With hours of hard work, Coleman was able to transition from a wheelchair to a walker. Eventually, he could move around with a four-pronged cane, and then a regular cane, which he still uses.
He estimates he was able to regain about 60% of the ability he had before his spinal column collapsed.
“It feels like I’m wearing really, really tight books and walking on roller skates,” he said. “I don’t have all of my function, but I remember watching one of my fellow veterans walking into the VA for an appointment with a cane, and I thought I’d love to be able to do that.”
When he thought that he’d never use his legs again, Coleman had started looking for activities he could look into, such as wheelchair basketball. He assumed he was done drumming.
But he’d overcome his own assumptions by learning to walk again, and an invitation from a friend convinced him to try drumming as well. His friend was having a 50th birthday party, and featuring one of the bands Coleman used to play in. The friend suggested that he get up on stage and try a song on the drums, just for old times sake.
“I didn’t even know if I could. But he said that it was just all friends there, to give it a shot,” he said. “So I did.”
Coleman found he was able to work the pedals somewhat like how he used to. He had to pay more attention than he used to, because his foot would slip off the pedal and he wouldn’t realize it. Still, he could get through a song holding the rhythm.
Encouraged, he decided to look for more opportunities. He found another band to play in, and explained his situation. That group, called Doc Swivel, was a success, playing a couple weekends every month. They had a good time, and Coleman enjoyed the experience.
Last year, he helped bring together a popular Edinburgh-based band called the Justin Slager Band for a reunion show. That band played through the end of 2019.
“We had a good time, and then, we figured it ran its course. For me, I figured I was ready to go out on my own terms. It was kind of wearing me out,” he said. “I never really had a military retirement, and had this one date left for Feb. 29, and thought I’d get some special guys together for a party.”
Coleman has recruited what he calls a “dream team” of musicians to play with him at the event, which starts at 8 p.m. at the Fraternal Order of Eagles No. 741 in Columbus.
The group includes Andy Bierlein on vocals, Greg Hodges on bass, Bruce Zaring and Franklin’s Kevin Eldridge on keys, and another Franklin musician, Phil Eldridge, on guitar. They’ve put together an eclectic song list of classic and hard rock that should prove memorable.
“These guys are right at the top of the list of great musicians in the state. They’re among the best at the craft. I’m really happy they’ve all agreed to do it,” Coleman said. “I’m definitely the weak link in this group.”
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Jim Coleman’s final concert
What: A final performance for the well-known local drummer, who will be joined by a highly regarded group of musicians. The event will double as a military retirement party for Coleman, who served for 23 years.
When: 8 p.m. to midnight Saturday
Where: Fraternal Order of Eagles No. 741, 930 Washington St., Columbus
Information:
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“Bless my mom’s heart. She must have been an angel. You know how terrible it had to be hearing a kid learn to play the drums in the house.”
— Jim Coleman
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