Inked In Blood guitarist recovering

Official press release: On February 11th 2007, Inked In Blood guitarist Matt McDonnell was found lying on the floor of his home near Portland, Oregon cold, sweating and barely able to breathe. Matt was immediately rushed to Adventist Medical Center in Portland where his vital signs had been taken and shown to be critically low. Doctors were able to slowly bring his health back using I.V.'s and other medications. Matt's condition held steady for the next 2 days while doctors continued to diagnose his ailment. Then, suddenly, on Feb. 14th his health took a turn for the worse when 60% of his lungs filled with fluid and he was no longer able to breath. Doctors were forced to put Matt into a drug-induced coma in order to pump the fluid out of his lungs by inserting a plastic tube down his trachea. Matt narrowly escaped death once again and remained on Life Support in the Intensive Care Unit for the next 3 days. An influx of phone calls from concerned IIB fans caused a crash in the hospital phone system and Matt was no longer able to receive phone calls or visitors from anyone except immediate family. After 5 days of being in ICU, Matt's health finally began to improve and he is moved back into regular care unit in the hospital. Matt was released from the hospital and sent home on Feb. 20 at 4pm with strict orders to rest and recover for the next 4 to 6 weeks. The final diagnosis given was acute Pneumonia, Pleurisy and a severe Staph infection in the lungs. Doctors don't know what directly caused the Pneumonia as he has always been very healthy, but said the amount of trauma done to his body was equivalent to that of a severe car accident. When asked to comment on the recent incident, Matt said "I've been given a new lease on life today. I feel extremely lucky to have been given a second chance. I want to personally thank everyone from the bottom of my heart who prayed for me, asked about me, or called or visited me while I was in the hospital. Receiving that many emails from concerned fans makes me feel very special. Also, a very special thank you to anyone who made donations to help offset the medical costs." The band is scheduled to release their sophomore full-length album on Facedown Records this summer and feels it will be the strongest release of their career.