COUNTRY musician Jake Davey is facing the prospect of never walking again.
But if you were placing a bet on his recovery, you'd be ill-advised to gamble against the 27-year-old from Taree.
Since undergoing emergency back surgery at the John Hunter Hospital almost a month ago, Davey has launched into his rehabilitation with the same hustle and determination that made him a 2022 Tamworth Country Music Festival Starmaker finalist and saw him share stages with Daryl Braithwaite, Diesel and Travis Collins.
"I get up every day and stretch and do everything in my power to nourish my body and focus mentally," Davey told the Newcastle Herald.
"If I can do all those things, I have a chance of walking again.
"There's no clear indication if that's a possibility or not."
For the past two years Davey has suffered from spinal stenosis, a narrowing of the space inside the backbone which places pressure on the spinal cord and nerves.
It can lead to numbness below the waist and makes the sufferer more susceptible to bulging or herniated discs.
Davey's spinal stenosis progressively worsened, leaving him unable to walk beyond short distances.
"I would walk for 100 metres and I'd go numb from the waist down and I would lose power in my legs," he said.
Six weeks ago the symptoms deteriorated further and Davey presented at Manning Base Hospital in Taree and was given Endone, Diazepam and a steroid injection.
"I was an absolute mess," he said. "I couldn't go to bed that night. I was screaming and in excruciating pain."
Five days later Davey was in Newcastle trying to celebrate his girlfriend Grace Coleman's birthday, while "hobbling up Darby Street like a 90-year-old in 10 out of 10 excruciating pain".
Davey took himself to the emergency department at the John Hunter Hospital and the pain and numbness worsened to the point he had no feeling from the waist down.
Surgery was successful in creating more space for Davey's spinal cord, but doctors discovered that his cauda equina nerves in his lower back had been compressed for at least 24 hours and were no longer responding.
"It's like a circuit board that someone's spilt water all over it," he said. "Some things might come back online and some might not."
Davey awoke from surgery without feeling in his feet and numbness through his buttocks and the back of his legs.
"So for the past 24 days I've been learning to use my bowel and bladder again," he said.
"I've been trying to learn how to walk again, all the while trying to stay mentally between the lines."
The injury has devastated Davey both emotionally and financially.
Besides working as a touring singer-songwriter, Davey is also a small business owner.
JakeDaveyStudios offers services such as recording, photography, videography and tuition for musicians.
Without the prospect of work for at least the next three to five months and with mounting medical costs, Davey's best friend Savannah Black launched a GoFundMe campaign to help.
Various other members of the Australian country music community have also reached out to offer support.
"I've never felt so supported," he said. "They've just got my back.
"Most of the time it's just the calls that are getting me through, but the GoFundMe is what's going to let me survive the next six months and make it through until I can get back to some kind of normality.
"I'm definitely not taking any of this for granted and I'm feeling very grateful."
Even in hospital and unable to walk, Davey's love of entertaining remains strong.
Every day he's been playing guitar and singing songs for other patients and staff on his ward.
"I'm trying to spread some happiness," he said. "I've been in here for a month, so if I can make other people smile that makes me happy."
On Monday Davey will release his new single, Made, which he co-wrote during a trip to Nashville in June.
Davey said having the new single to focus on and support of family and friends had kept his spirits up amid the gruelling twice-daily physiotherapy sessions.
"I've realised that music can get you through such dark times," he said.
"I'm using music to get through a rough time along with my family, the country music family and my partner Grace, who has been an absolute rock through this."
