Larry Craig mixes music through vibration. He uses volume control meters and tries to keep the sound in the safe zone, between 86 and 120 decibels. “I don’t need to hear it. I feel it,” Craig said. “If you can stick your fingers in your ear and hum a song, and that song fills you up, it’s a good jam.”
Although he no longer hears sound and is fully blind in one eye, Larry Craig still performs as DJ Shadow Deaf Jam. The 44-year-old built Seraphic Empire with the help of his wife, Angi, and the community of Amboy, Washington.
Suddenly, life has new meaning to Larry Craig.
The 44-year-old DJ from Amboy no longer hears sound, is blind in one eye and can barely see out the other eye after a sudden fever turned life threatening last Thanksgiving.
“After seven days, I woke up from a coma half blind. Fully deaf. Had a heart attack. A stroke. I lost pretty much all of my muscles,” Craig said. “I didn’t really know what was going on. Woke up restrained to a bed. Scared to death. Thought somebody was trying to torture me. Trying to kill me. I thought I just had the flu, man.”
The doctors at Legacy Hospital in Salmon Creek told Craig he contracted Meningitis B. The virus can spread through a cough or a sneeze. Although the risk for meningitis is high in children under the age of 5, there are vaccinations to keep this bacteria from spreading. Craig lost his spleen in a serious car accident 25 years ago. He was supposed to get shots every year to boost his immune system, but he didn’t listen to his doctors.
“My nana was misdiagnosed. They told her she had a bleeding ulcer. She died six months later from liver cancer. I gave up hope on the medical system,” Craig said.
“Nobody knows anything about (meningitis). I didn’t and I went to medical school. I’m a pre-med graduate from Concord Academy,” he added. “Every man out there who thinks they can whip the world’s butt, there’s a little microscopic bug that will whip your ass that fast. Meningitis can kill you 24 hours from the second you breathe it in. One out of every 10 patients is dead. I should have been dead. I should not be here.”
To Craig, the fact that he is still here in Amboy, living and breathing, is a message from God to make the most of his second chance at life and to educate others about meningitis.
“If there’s one thing I can teach the children, even some adults, is to never give up. Keep on keeping on,” Craig said. “I thought my eye was the ugliest thing in the world. I looked evil. Man, this ain’t evil. It’s a lesson. It’s a reminder. It’s a story-opener. Hey, what happened to your eye? Well, check this out. I took a breath. I’m lucky to be alive.”
He is not ashamed to sing this chorus from a Billy Ocean song, “Suddenly, life has new meaning to me. There’s beauty up above and things we never take notice of. Wake up and suddenly you’re in love.”
“I woke up from a coma and I no longer see evil. I no longer feel evil. And I sure as hell don’t hear evil,” Craig said.
“They say if a person goes deaf, their vision gets better. Or if they go blind, their hearing gets better. My heart got really big,” he added. “If people don’t start loving one another and giving each other respect, because it’s not that hard. Respect is what everything revolves around. You smiling at me gives me respect and it makes me smile back. So, your one smile just made two people happy. If things don’t change, the darkness that is engulfing us is going to take over. We can beat it.”
After seven months of recovery, including three different eye surgeries, Craig is ready to share his love for people through the gift of music again. On July 4, he set up his Seraphic Empire DJ station and performed in front of his family, friends and customers at the Countree Kitchen in Amboy.
Sherrie Fisher, restaurant owner and close friend, never doubted that Craig would get back on stage. She held his hand in the hospital when the nurses took him off life support and he never stopped breathing.
“I want people to see the real Larry, the person that doesn’t stay down,” Fisher said. “Today is a day of independence. But today is a day of his independence.”
Craig mixes music through vibration. He uses volume control meters and tries to keep the sound in the safe zone, between 86 and 120 decibels. He asks people to write down their favorite songs and stitches them together with a lights show.
“As of today, my DJ name changes. I’m no longer DJ Shadow. I’m DJ Shadow Deaf Jam. I don’t need to hear it. I feel it. If you can stick your fingers in your ear and hum a song, and that song fills you up, it’s a good jam,” Craig said. “The hearing impaired, they need to feel that. They need to be able to dance with their husband or their wife. Through light, sound and vibration, I will make that happen.”
Craig then puts his hand up and start counting off words with his fingers and thumb.
“Education. Research. Love. Respect. Trust. That’s all you need in life,” he said. “And what do you do with that hand? You reach out and say ‘thank you.’”
