Old-School Punk Rock

Bassist Rob "Noxious" Durham of the Shitgiveits had a heart attack November 4. "His aorta blew out and collapsed all his arteries," reads a post on the band's webpage. "He went under a ten hour surgery and it took thirty doctors and nurses to save his life."

During surgery, Durham suffered a hemorrhagic stroke, caused when a blood vessel within the brain bursts or bleeds.

"The left side of his brain is dead," band guitarist Todd Awful said on November 7. "The doctors said that if he did regain consciousness, he would be in a vegetative state for the remainder of his life."

Though Durham was comatose and on life support, he was able to make the effort of squeezing his daughter's hand. He died last Thursday. (His funeral will be held this Saturday in Long Beach.)

The Shitgiveits, based in Imperial Beach and made up of former members of Chronic Thrill and Jack Shred Destruction Company, became a band in 1994. Durham also played with America's Hardcore and fff. Since 2004, he'd been involved with manufacturing skateboards in Mexico.

"I'm still shocked about it," says Awful. "The guy was clean and sober for over seven years. He watched what he ate, went skating all the time, took care of his daughter.... He was old-school punk rock who stayed true to his roots."