For recovering Ron Jones, the 'play' is the thing

Ron Jones, seen here Thursday outside his Milton home, says he's doing pretty good considering what he's been through. (Lebanon Voice photo)

MILTON - Area music legend Ron Jones may need a walker to move around and endure near-constant pain from screws in a shattered leg and hip, but the fingers that strum a guitar and the voice that accompanies it are still intact and, God willing, will soon be heard again at local music halls and clubs.

"Oh I can still play, and I can still sing," Jones said grinning and wiggling his fingers on Thursday on a porch outside his Milton residence. "I want to be back on stage as soon as I can."

It was back on Aug. 25 that Jones was headed down River Road in Lebanon toward Milton in his little Honda Civic when he crashed head-on into a Jeep.

The driver of the Jeep, a Lebanon resident, was unhurt, but Jones suffered severe injuries and required extrication tools to be freed from the wreckage. He was transported to Portsmouth Regional Hospital then transported again to Brigham and Women's Hospital in Boston where he spent several days in ICU.

In the crash he suffered broken bones in his right leg, a shattered right hip which required replacement, several broken ribs, a broken sternum and broken neck vertebra.

In spite of the injuries, Jones remains upbeat about his recovery and said he looks forward to leaving the walker behind.

Despite the frequent pain in his right leg and hip where some 15 screws hold things in place, Jones admitted, "I'm feeling pretty good considering what happened."

Jones left a Manchester rehab facility Sept. 19 and said that since he's been home, he's been steadily recuperating and even working on some new music.

"I play every day. It's therapy for me," he said.

Jones has spent decades entertaining the northern Seacoast, both with his longstanding Ron Jones Band and as a solo act, most recently at Gary's Sports Bar in Rochester.