Recovery Update: Big Daddy Weave's Frontman Says Jason Weaver Will Tour Again (Exclusive Interview Pt. 2)
Bassist Jason Weaver of the award-winning band Big Daddy Weave had both of his feet amputated after suffering from a life threatening infection last month, and now his brother and lead singer of the band, Mike Weaver, is sharing the band's reaction to the news and how they are keeping the faith as they gear up for the future.
"To say that we're not sort of shell-shocked, I think would be wrong," Weaver told The Christian Post in an exclusive interview. "But we also know where our hope is and our hope is not in a set of circumstances, our hope is in a person — it's Jesus Christ, He's our hope. The Spirit of God, we look to Him for leadership. How do we deal with this? Our peace and our rest comes from Him, but it's definitely been ... tumultuous is a word that comes to mind."
Although this has proven to be a very difficult time for the Weaver family. Mike tells CP that Jason has not lost his hope in Jesus.
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"I thank God for His peace. I've encountered God's presence and His peace in this in ways like I never have in my life. I've also felt completely rocked too. I felt like my world's turned upside down at moments, just from the enemy just trying to bring fear in and just battling that kind of stuff," Weaver explained. "So much emotion, good grief I've just been on an emotional rollercoaster because that's my little brother and I love him so much. He's my best friend as a guy. It's been rough."
Weaver was not the only one in the group who took Jason's battle hard; the other band members are also fighting through it.
"The guys have definitely felt the blow of this because Jay is such a central figure in Big Daddy Weave. Everybody is still just cheering Jay on — that's where we are right now. [We] just gotta walk through today," Mike explained.
Once news of Jason's condition hit, floods of support from fans, friends and family came pouring in. Jason's wife, Emily, created a Facebook page to keep supporters updated as he underwent multiple surgeries and daily treatments to keep the infection in his legs from spreading.
Jason has had diabetes for 15 years and the illness, although not the direct cause of the infection, severely weakened his body's immune system and ability to stave off the infection, which resulted in the amputation of both of his feet.
When Jason left the band's tour to start his hospital treatment, Ben Blascoe from Citizens Way sat in for Jason. When asked if he thought Jason would ever perform again, Mike with confidence said that he would.
"Yes, we are really confident that that's the case. And whether it's immediately, like in a wheelchair kind of setup or in the future with a prosthetic, I'm so confident of that and I know that he'll do that," Mike declared.
Jason and his bandmates have only become closer during this season in his life, his brother noted, and they have become his greatest source of fellowship.
"Not just the five guys of Big Daddy Weave, there's probably close to 30 people on the road. And that community, everyday we get together and we're in God's Word together, and we pray over wherever it is that we're playing, we pray for each other," Mike continued. "We walk through easy stuff, happy stuff and really difficult stuff in life together. The reality of Jesus present in His body, I see that revealed in the guys and girls who are out on the road with us. That has been a huge encouragement to me."
He recalled standing backstage at the 2016 K-Love Fan Awards for their weekend events and Jason was already in the hospital, but he encouraged them to go play without him even though they didn't want to. As they stood backstage, his brother received the news that Jason would have to have his feet amputated.
"I was standing side stage getting ready for the event that night and all of our crew is there, and some of the guys from Big Daddy Weave were there too. I got the news and I felt like it was going to crush me for a minute and then these guys they all just stood up, under it with me," Mike described as he welled up with emotion.
"I know that Jesus carries our problems and I know He's been carrying me, but in that moment to know it hit them just as hard. Man, I don't know that we would have ever found out that we had that beautiful of a family on the road. I don't know if I could have ever known that any other way," he said.
"As difficult as that was I'm so thankful for my friends and my brothers and my sisters who are on the road with us, it was really difficult and special time all at the same time."
