Injured SXSW fan gets private concert in hospital

AUSTIN, Texas — An 18 year old who was injured when a suspected drunken driver crashed into a crowd of people at South by Southwest in Austin got a private concert in her hospital room by one of her favorite bands.

The Austin American-Statesman reports that members of the band Jared & The Mill, an indie folk band from Phoenix, played for Mason Endres on Saturday afternoon at St. David’s Medical Center.

She was standing with her friends when police say the driver plowed into a crowd of people Thursday, killing two and injuring almost two dozen.

Endres suffered a broken leg, a fractured neck and a broken nose.

From The Statesman:

Despite the pain and the surgeries, Mason has been in good spirits.

“She was worried about what she’s missing at South by Southwest,” he said.

Most of all, she was upset about not getting to see one of her favorite bands, Jared & The Mill, an indie folk band from Phoenix, perform their two scheduled shows.

Mason befriended the members of the band at last year’s SXSW when she saw them performing on the street with a banjo player, a stand-up bass, drummer and guitarists. She kept in touch with the band via social media.

“I consider myself to have a pretty decent ear for music because that is what I want to do with my future, so if they were able to draw me in and keep me, then that’s a big deal,” said Mason, a senior at Liberty Hill High School.

Two of the band members had been chatting with Mason just a few minutes before the accident. When they found out she wouldn’t be able to make it to their planned shows following the crash, they decided to bring the show to her.

Her face lit up when the band walked in. She said after the concert that she felt better than she’d ever imagined she would in the hospital.

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Information from: Austin American-Statesman, http://www.statesman.com

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