Last month, New York musician Jesse Malin sustained a rare and sudden spinal stroke that has left him paralyzed from the waist down, Rolling Stone reports through an interview with the artist. Malin’s manager, David Bason, along with a number of the artist’s friends, have launched a donation campaign to help cover the musician’s medical expenses.

On Thursday, May 4, Malin was sitting with friends at a Manhattan restaurant when a burning pain flared up in his lower back and spread down his legs into his heels, Malin told Rolling Stone. The musician collapsed on the floor and was unable to get up.

“Everybody was standing above me like in Rosemary’s Baby, saying all these different things and I was there not knowing what was going on with my body,” Malin explained. The night of the stroke, Malin’s friend—Murphy’s Law singer Jimmy G—carried Malin into a nearby apartment lobby. An ambulance subsequently arrived and transported the musician to Mount Sinai hospital. Malin spent two weeks at Mount Sinai, where he underwent multiple spinal procedures, before he was transferred to the NYU Langone Orthopedic Center.

Malin has now said that doctors “don’t really understand” what caused the spinal trauma or what his chances are for recovery. His daily routine includes three physical therapy sessions that focus on moving his body without the ability to use his legs, and how to achieve daily tasks in that state. He will be discharged from the hospital later this month, he said.

A little more than a week after the spinal stroke, Malin canceled a planned tour of the United States and the United Kingdom. He cited an “unexpected” and “serious back injury,” but gave no further details at the time. Malin was going to be touring for the 20th anniversary of his debut album, The Fine Art of Self Destruction. He reissued the LP earlier this year.