Jay Leno has had a terrible few months as a result of not one, but two major occurrences that have left him with multiple injuries all over his body.
First, the 73-year-old musician spent nine days in West Hills Hospital’s Grossman Burn Center after being burned in a vehicle fire in his Los Angeles garage on November 12 of last year while working on a vintage car.
As a result, he received serious second-and third-degree burns. Then, a little more than a month later, on January 27, he was wounded while riding a motorcycle, shattering his collarbone and two ribs.
Despite the string of blunders, the comic, who currently hosts Jay Leno’s Garage and the NBC game show You Bet Your Life, has no intention to retire anytime soon.
At the premiere of Hot Wheels: Ultimate Challenge, Leno spoke with Page Six about his retirement plans (spoiler alert: he doesn’t have any) and what it would take to exit public life.The veteran late-night presenter reiterated that he had no intention of retiring «unless I have a stroke,» adding, «Then you slow down.»
He insisted on staying at work until his health forced him to, adding, «That’s when you retire when you have your stroke.»
Leno handled each of his recent crashes beautifully. He returned to driving and even the crash scene after a nine-day hospital stay during which he had numerous grafting operations.
He made his stage return less than a week later at the Comedy Magic Club in Hermosa Beach, California, before a sold-out crowd and a standing ovation.
«I knew how close I was to the pilot light,» he acknowledged, «and I thought, ‘Uh oh.’» He got a «full face of gasoline» while replacing a blocked fuel pipe in the undercarriage of a 1907 White Steam Car.
«Maybe like the most intense sunburn you’ve ever had, that’d be fair to say,» he said, adding that it «felt exactly like my face was on fire.»
While in the hospital, he had two skin grafting procedures to help create better new skin and sessions in hyperbaric chambers to help oxygenate tissue. During this period, he refused to take pain relievers since they acted as «a reminder that I’m an idiot,» so they functioned as a diversion.
His relatives and well-known acquaintances also expressed their strong support for him. «[John] Travolta gave me a big Italian basket, Tom Selleck sent flowers, and Russell Crowe called from Australia,» his 43-year-old wife Mavis informed him during his stay at the burn center. I’ve been in this business for a long time, so seeing that love was quite poignant.