Bummer Alert: Thrash Guitarist Bernie Versailles In Coma

Metal Underground reports that Bernie Versailles, guitarist for Redemption (ex-Fates Warning) and Agent Steel, has suffered an aneurysm and is now in a coma. Redemption co-guitarist Nick van Dyck is quoted thusly:

Doctors operated on him and said it was successful and vitals are good, but Bernie is not out of the woods by any stretch. I think we will keep updates to a minimum as this is a matter for his family. Please keep Bernie and his family in your thoughts and prayers. He is one of the kindest and most thoughtful people one could ever meet, and his talent is as big as his heart.

This sucks ass for everybody, but it is especially bitter in light of Versailles’ un-rock ‘n roll lifestyle. His bandmate in Agent Steel explains:

It isn’t fair. Bernie and I joined Agent Steel together in late 1985. He was 18, I was 26. As a teenager, he [had] devoted himself to being the best musician possible, but he was also a gifted natural. Clean living. Dedicated. In contrast … from the late ’70s through the ’80s … I did enough blow and heroin to keep the Afghan and South American drug cartels in business for years, and trust me, that is no exaggeration. [And] here is a guy that never abused his physical body and took his music totally seriously, and then this …

We last saw Versailles when Redemption opened Dream Theater’s 2007 tour. Everybody send positive vibes for a stand-up dude!