The cast of The King and I joined hands last Friday and prayed for the department’s accompanist who had been injured in a severe car accident Oct. 14.
Laura Logan, piano accompanist for the ACU’s musical theatre, was critically injured in a motor-vehicle accident. Logan, a resident of Clyde, suffered traumatic right arm injuries and head laceration. Her mother, Carol Ann Weston of Kerrville, suffered a wrist injury and several cracked ribs in addition to cuts and bruises from the impact.
Logan and Weston were driving a Chevrolet Trailblazer when their car collided with a guardrail at Loop 322 and Oldham Lane. The vehicle fell over the side and onto the underpass of Oldham Lane. The vehicle rolled several times and came to rest right-side-up with most of the damage occurring on the passenger side, where Logan was sitting. Emergency response teams were quick to respond.
Logan was in surgery to prevent arm amputation and treat head trauma within four hours of the impact. Three days later, Logan was relocated from the ICU to a regular room.
Laura Logan has been a pianist for the Department of Theatre for three years. She aids in private lessons, auditions and rehearsals. Logan also conducted the spring performances of The Pirates of Penzance.
Logan possesses rare musical skills, said Kari Hatfield, assistant professor and director in the theatre department. Logan offers knowledge in etiquette as well as the ability to sight-read any piece of music put before her, she said.
“She does so much more than she is required to do,” Kari Hatfield said.
Hatfield said Logan is a giver – willing to meet with students any time she is available.
“More than anything, she’s just become a really good friend,” said Peter Hargrave, senior musical theatre major from Amarillo. “She’s someone you can always call and say ‘hey, I need to hear this song’ and she will play it and then you can hang out and talk for 10 minutes or something like that.”
The day after the accident, a Facebook update from Logan’s husband, Eric Logan, said “It will be a miracle if she regains upper arm use or play piano again.”
Eric Logan elaborated more on his perspectives on Monday.
“As a professional pianist, the trauma to her arm is of great concern,” Eric Logan said. “There are questions only God knows the answers to. We remain faithfully optimistic about her recovery and her rehabilitation.”
Hatfield remains optimistic as well.
“[Logan] is a spunky, feisty person,” Hatfield said. “If there is any shred of hope, she will fight for it.”
