Family of Cajun singer and songwriter talks about “near-death experience”

SCOTT, Louisiana (KLFY) – Last month, Cajun singer and songwriter Johnny Sonnier was in a unusual accident that almost cost him his life.

As Johnny was working on a vehicle that was on a ramp, the ramp gave way and the vehicle fell over. Johnny was trapped between tires and boards under the car. Johnny said he lost consciousness after being crushed by the car. “I laid down and got under it. As I went to hook the cable back in, it jumped out of gear, out of park and rolled back on me,” Sonnier said. “I broke my nose and suffocated because I couldn’t breathe.”

Johnny’s son, Nicholas Brasseaux, said he was working on the front of the car when he saw his father trapped underneath and tried to help him get out from under it. “I was sitting in the front, and as the gear went out, the car rolled back, hurried and got out from under it, but it was too late for him,” Brasseaux said. “He couldn’t get out fast enough.”

It took several family members to lift the car and pull Johnny out. Johnny was taken to the hospital, where doctors found broken ribs, a broken nose and a broken cheekbone, and he had also lost the use of his right arm. While in the hospital, Johnny was also diagnosed with pneumonia. He was released from the hospital a week later.

Johnny’s wife, Winnie Cormier, says this was one of the most horrific situations she has ever experienced. She says she is grateful her husband is still alive. “We almost lost him last year because an aneurysm burst in his stomach,” Sonnier said. “But this year it happened again, so we were lucky. God spared us twice.”

Johnny is now at home recovering. He is currently on oxygen and will have shoulder replacement surgery. He hopes to be back on his feet next year. The family has a GoFundMe to help pay his medical bills.

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