Local rocker Laurie Luke lucky to be alive and touring new single three years after brain haemorrhage

When local rock musician Laurie Luke woke from a six-day coma after suffering a near-fatal brain haemorrhage, his first, slurred words were “Can I still play guitar?” The answer was no, nor could he properly talk or walk. Luke was lucky to be alive. On June 19, 2021, he raced to Royal Perth Hospital after his girlfriend at the time had been the victim of a hit-and-run car accident. When Luke arrived at the emergency department, he collapsed at her bedside and was rushed into surgery where doctors discovered he had a major bleed on his brain due to an arteriovenous malformation, or AVM. Part of his skull was removed to relieve building pressure. Doctors said he was within hours of dying. “They said I was in the right place at the right time for all the wrong reasons,” the 40-year-old told The West Australian. The Adelaide-born musician, who first picked up a guitar inspired by Jimi Hendrix and the Beatles, spent six days in a coma in the intensive care unit at Royal Perth Hospital fighting for his life. His family was told to say goodbye. When he miraculously opened his eyes a week later, the musician promised himself that he’d not only learn how to walk and talk again, but he’d also re-learn how to play guitar and record a new single to be released on the first anniversary of his ordeal. On June 19, 2022, Luke unveiled Long Way Home, a song mixed and mastered by Powderfinger guitarist Darren Middleton inspired by his near-death experience. “I woke up out of a coma to a completely different life,” he said. “I was starting my life again from zero.” Luke set himself the goal of writing and recording a new song within a year to motivate himself through the “incredibly tough” and frustrating rehabilitation. “You know you have the capacity to (play guitar) but it’s not working for some reason,” he said. “Even holding a fork, clapping in time — simple things like that — weren’t working. “When I was doing the vocals (for Long Way Home) there was a lot of pain, physical pain. “It was heartbreaking. “Music’s always been my thing. If I didn’t have this, I’d be in real trouble. “But I was very stubborn.” Luke launches his second single, Breaking the Chain, with concerts in Bunbury on September 26 and Margaret River on October 4. For the keen surfer and fan of Soundgarden, Stone Temple Pilots and Silverchair to be back recording and touring is miraculous. The singer and multi-instrumentalist is on medication to prevent seizures, which can be caused by strobe lights, and has a metal plate in his skull. He had a seizure on stage during his third gig back and now wears a hat to shield his eyes from stage lighting. Luke, who played in Perth prog-rock trio SOMA before going solo, admits that he ignored the warning signs of AVM, which included migraines and “passing out” without warning. Moments before he went on stage at the 2022 Strings Attached guitar festival in Margaret River for his first performance since the brain haemorrhage, a nurse approached him to tell him she had recently treated two patients with AVM. Neither survived.