It was a day earlier than his efficiency on the historic Uptown Theater in downtown Kansas Metropolis, and Billy Brimblecom Jr. was already on fireplace. Drumming is his life’s cause and rhythm. It has been that method ever since he first heard “Wipe Out,” that 1963 basic by The Surfers, on his dad’s automotive radio. “The drum solo, very well-known, comes on, and I begin doing that on the sprint, very poorly, and he is like, ‘Oh you wanna play the drums? All proper!’” Brimblecom stated. “At that second, I used to be like, ‘Sure, I do!’”
However 20 years in the past, a health care provider gave him information that he feared might need him strolling to a unique beat altogether: “‘Okay, there is a mass that is the dimensions of a big apple in your ankle.’ The very last thing he stated was, ‘If it’s a sarcoma, we’ve to take away the sarcoma, and every part that it’s touching.’ I stated, ‘So…?’ And he stated, ‘The one cause you’d lose your leg could be to save lots of your life.’”
It was a sarcoma. Brimblecom went by means of 13 rounds of chemotherapy. “The factor I feared probably the most was dropping my leg,” he stated. “You realize, ‘risking life or limb’ is a flip of phrase. What does that suggest? Second to dying, the worst factor that you might consider is dropping a limb.”
When the inevitable got here, his leg was amputated proper above the knee.
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Brimblecom’s bandmates and associates rallied round him, together with considered one of his oldest associates from Kansas Metropolis, Jason Sudeikis.
Sudeikis is named the title character in Apple TV’s “Ted Lasso,” who has a present for the aspirational: “You realize, I feel that while you care about somebody, and you bought a little bit love in your coronary heart, there ain’t nothing you possibly can’t get by means of collectively, you understand what I am saying?”
That form of understanding was simply what Brimblecom wanted from his good friend, even when Sudeikis wasn’t precisely certain what to say. “You do not essentially know the right way to – like, do you provide assist? Options? You are sorta like, Oh, proper, mortality. Okay,” he stated.
The 2 had met at an improv workshop in Kansas Metropolis. Brimblecom went on to be an expert musician in Nashville, and Sudeikis landed on “Saturday Night time Dwell.” In 2006, when Sudeikis realized insurance coverage would solely cowl about half of Brimblecom’s $60,000 prosthetic leg, he did what associates do.
“I keep in mind you stated, ‘We’ll simply Kansas Metropolis the crap out of it!’” Brimblecom recalled. “And we knew what that meant.”
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Sudeikis helped set up a great quaint Kansas Metropolis barbecue. It raised greater than sufficient cash to get Brimblecom a brand new leg. However that was truly the least of it. A fundraiser for a good friend is now an annual pleasant jam session, referred to as Thundergong!
Sudeikis introduced loads of others alongside for the journey, together with fellow forged members like Hanna Waddingham, from “Ted Lasso,” and Will Forte, from “SNL.” They confirmed as much as assist just because he requested.
Requested the way it feels, Sudeikis replied, “Oh, it is one of the best. Like, final 12 months, Taste Flave, like, jumped in with two toes, and a clock!”
Will Forte & associates cowl “Soda Pop” from “KPop Demon Hunters” at Thundergong! 2025:
Thus far, Thundergong! has helped pay for prosthetic limbs for greater than 2,000 amputees all around the nation by means of a nonprofit referred to as Steps of Religion, aiding amputees who lack medical insurance, or don’t have any prosthesis protection with their medical insurance. Brimblecom stated, “The factor that was stopping me from simply strolling round on a prosthetic leg versus utilizing crutches, or being in a wheelchair, is insurance coverage and cash. You realize, that should not be a barrier.”
Brimblecom turned the CEO of Steps of Religion after he tried to cheer up another person who had misplaced their very own leg, and he realized one thing: “I went in, and I talked to the man for 5 minutes. I do not even keep in mind what I stated, however I keep in mind how I felt, and the way he was me. I may simply see the thrill, and the hope in his eyes, and it was actual optimistic. And I stated, ‘Gosh, I want that could possibly be my job.’”
It isn’t a straightforward job. About 500 individuals lose a limb on daily basis within the U.S. The value of a prosthesis will be anyplace from a couple of thousand to greater than $100,000. “This isn’t, I can drive a Honda however select a Ferrari,” stated Brimblecom. “None of that applies with regards to your limbs.”
Think about you are a contractor like Josh Conner. In 2015 he fell two tales off a scaffolding. “I figured if I landed on my toes, I would be alright,” he stated. “However that is wasn’t the case.”
His heel was shattered; an an infection did the remaining, and he misplaced his leg.
The primary prosthesis Conner was given didn’t afford him very a lot mobility. It was all his employee’s comp would pay for. He may stroll with it, however not work in it.
He was a life on incapacity, till Billy Brimblecom and Steps of Religion stepped in. “Billy simply stated, ‘We gotcha,’” Conner stated.
And what went by means of his thoughts? “Complete disbelief. It was a really emotional factor,” Conner stated.
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He’s again to work now, on stilts no much less, with a brand new prosthetic limb tailor-made particularly to him. “Steps of Religion has given me my confidence again – you understand, every part,” Conner stated. “So, it is like a brand new life nearly.”
Tales like that haven’t solely saved Sudeikis coming again, however numerous different actors and musicians as nicely. Many have change into regulars, like Brendan Hunt, who sang a David Bowie track dressed as he did in “Ted Lasso,” as “Piggy” Stardust. “The primary factor is, it is a legit group that does a very legit, you understand, unimpeachably good factor,” Hunt stated. “I must battle actually laborious to discover a cause to not do it.”
It will get larger yearly, and this time round Thundergong! raised .. drum roll please … greater than $1 million for Steps of Religion.
Friendship is infectious. All of the issues associates do for one another? They’re doing for strangers.
“It is about hope, confidence, surviving, and thriving,” stated Brimblecom.
“To do one thing that you just love with individuals you’re keen on, to assist individuals you might by no means meet, I want it on everybody,” stated Sudeikis.
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Story produced by Amol Mhatre. Editor: Lauren Barnello.
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