#benfalgoust

On December 4th, 2001, Soilent Green got into an accident. One article from Lambgoat, posted on December 5th, 2001, stated that Soilent got into an early morning crash, that resulted in “numerous injuries, forcing the band to cancel its touring plans” for the rest of 2001.

At around 4am Pacific Standard Time, the band’s van rolled 4 times on an icy, snow covered road, in Eastern Washington. Brian Patton and Scott Williams suffered broken bones in the shoulder area. Tommy Buckley and Ben Falgoust escaped with minor injuries. At the time, they were on tour for the “Extreme Music For Extreme People Tour”. All of the band gear survived the crash.

On January 2, 2002, Lambgoat posted an article about how Scott Williams was recovering, and in good spirits, but still in pain.

Soilent Green’s Second Accident

Less than six months later, around April 13th, 2002, Soilent got into an accident again, on the road. This time, the band got into a crash in Chicago, Illinois. Jon Model, their touring bassist was injured, along with Ben. The other members escaped the crash with minor scrapes. At the time, the band was on tour with Gwar, for their “Blood Drive 2002” leg.

An article from May 4th, 2002 stated that Ben was still recovering from the crash, which had resulted in both of his legs being broken. Falgoust was at the wheel of the van during the accident. The article quoted him, saying”

“I don’t remember much, just a few pieces. I was told that I was avoiding a car spinning out of control and as I came back into the lane, I ran in the back of an 18-wheeler. The story is still not in full. No drinking and driving, or any drug use!”. Ben went to physical therapy during this time, and Soilent was expected to be in full gear by the end of that year (2002).

An April 21st, 2002 article stated that Ben was still in the hospital. He had already gone under two leg operations to repair broken bones. He was still in Chicago at the time, and was to soon return home to New Orleans.

In 2003, Soilent made a come back, going on tour, and in 2005, they released their album “Confrontation” (Which is personally my favorite).

A 2006 article mentioned the crash, stating that Ben was nearly killed. He had to endure numerous surgeries, and go through rehabilitation to learn how to walk again. According to some people I’ve talked to, Ben was initially told that he may never walk again.

He ended up needing a skin graft on his foot, the donor site being from his torso.

I don't know what his pain management or physical therapy was like. I can only imagine it being incredibly rough and frustrating. There's a part of me that wonders if such an accident could lead to being thrown opioids constantly. I wonder if being wheelchair bound was more painful than learning to walk again. From a therapy point of view, I can't help but wonder, what the process was like. I wonder what it felt like to be told that you'd never walk again. Did that frighten him? Did it make him feel mad?

Did he truly expect to walk again? Or did he figure that it was at least worth trying?

These are just some of the questions I have. It's quite hard trying to get into contact with any of the members of Soilent Green. The last time I got to talk to Ben, he told me he didn't really do interviews anymore.

In a 2014 interview, Ben recalled some of that time, from after the accident.

“It was just bad luck, it was all timing and stuff like that. But the only thing you can do at that point is persevere and move forward and do all you can. When I was in the hospital, I remember I was in a wheelchair for like a year, and I was going into this hospital in New Orleans, and I didn’t have any money; so it was kind of like a hospital for people with low funds.

I remember being next to people and seeing some of the situations they were in. I kept thinking, you know, both my legs were broken, I tore my heel. But this guy, his face was sewn up or something and he couldn’t talk; he had to write everything down on paper. And some dude was there who got shot in the hip, and his whole hip fractured and broke up in little pieces. When you’re in those situations, you start to see a lot.

There’ll be people thinking, “Oh pity on me, I’m in this situation,” but I was like, look at this shit these other people are dealing with. You know, I need to get through this and I just need to sort it out. I had a lot of good friends and my family was really close and helpful, so that was a beneficial thing too.”.

Years later, in 2017 or so, Ben broke his legs again, when touring with Goatwhore. The ramp door to a trailer came down on his head, threw him back, and landed on his leg and foot. Initially, the door was supposed to have a hydraulic system, but the mechanics to it failed causing the injury. Of course, he had to go to the hospital for treatment, but because of his prior accident, he didn’t need to have rods put in his legs, as he already had some in there.

Nowadays, you can’t even tell what Ben has been through. It’s amazing how strong of person he is, not just physically, but mentally. The mental fortitude one must have to go through what he’s gone through is incredible. In the very least, I am so glad that he , and the others, are still around today.

Ben, if you ever see this, please know that I’m proud of you. ♥

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