Community support for Kidd Candelario

As some of you may know and for those of you who don't- longtime Grateful Dead employee and Bay Area legend, Kidd Candelario had three small strokes on the right side of his brain. Last week he was traveling to work in his car when he was found mildly responsive but unable to operate the vehicle or communicate.  

After spending five days in the hospital, he was transitioned to an an Acute Care facility where he will participate in an intensive physical therapy process. He is working with occupational therapists, neuropsychologists and a speech therapist among a host of other doctors.  Although his team is optimistic about his condition, there is still a long road ahead of us as he regains his strength. Until then he will need daily care and support as he has lost a large portion of mobility and functionality on the left side of his body. Even though his incredible sense of humor and rolodex of rockstar stories are still intact, he will not be able to return to work making cables for quite some time. 

Donations to Kidd will help him with both his recovery and his return to a healthier and more stable life.  In addition to donations, we would greatly appreciate help from any Bay Area friends with leads on a comfortable and safe living environment for him (no stairs).  Thank you so much to those who have reached out thus. far, your well wishes mean a lot to him and we read them with him daily.

Thank you,

Catalina Candelario and Cody Candelario 


Hi all,

We have great news!  Kidd has moved from Welcome Home in Castro Valley to Bello Gardens in San Anselmo.  While he is still in recovery from his stroke, he is making great progress.  We are hoping you can help us with this next phase of care.

When Kidd was discharged from Alta Bates after 14 days in the ICU last June (was it June?), he was moved to Welcome Home as a matter of practicality so he could be closer to the hospital and his physicians.  During his stay, he made consistent progress, recovering slowly but surely from the very serious physical and mental ramifications of his stroke. In addition to weekly physical and occupational therapy, he also had cataract surgery in both eyes which has improved his vision immensely (as anyone on Instagram can probably tell!). He is still having some physical mobility issues but can now stand for short periods of time and can get in and out of cars with some assistance.

Over the past few months we have recognized the need to move Kidd closer to his friends and family, and researched assisted living facilities in Marin and Sonoma County.  We are absolutely delighted that we were able to secure a private room for him at Bello Gardens, in beautiful downtown San Anselmo.  Built in 1947, Bello Gardens was originally designed as a convent for the nuns who taught at St. Anselms across the street, and is located just blocks from Reflections Jewelry store, owned by Cody’s nanny from childhood, a precious friend who now offers the same loving attention for Kidd that nurtured our family when Cody was a little boy.

Mental stimulation is as important to his healing journey as physical therapy, and we hope many of you reading this can visit Kidd.  Be sure to check with the facility guidelines around necessary Covid testing- as of this writing one must have a negative rapid test to visit.  We expect that will change in the near future. 

Kidd’s recovery is on-going, and in addition to the significant costs of assisted living, he still needs a level of care from various specialists and therapists that is not covered by insurance.  As you can imagine, the financial impacts for Kidd and our family have been significant.  We are reaching out again to ask for your support: would you please consider making another contribution to Go Fund Me as we continue to support Kidd on his journey back to full health and wellness?  We could not do this without you, and we are so grateful for all your support. 

Thanks and lots of love,

Cody and Catalina