In a statement issued Christmas day via the Grateful Dead web site, Grateful Dead bassist Phil Lesh [ tickets ] thanked fans and friends who came together for spiritual support as the 58-year-old musician underwent a liver transplant in Jacksonville, Florida on December 17th. While expressing gratitude for the outpouring of affection shown to him and his family, Lesh also asked for the Dead community to offer their prayers for the family of the donor whose death made the transplant possible.

Lesh was diagnosed with Hepatitis C in 1992. The disease, a virus that can promote liver degeneration and failure over time, is most widely spread through blood tranfusions, intravenous drug use, sexual contact and nasal cocaine ingestion, according to the Hepatitis C Foundation. It's not known how Lesh was exposed to the virus.

After the death of fellow Grateful Dead member Jerry Garcia in 1995, Lesh continued performing shows near his home in Northern California. In 1998, he took part in a month-long tour featuring most of the surviving members of the Dead performing at the Other Ones in the '98 incarnation of the Further Festival. In September, shortly after the tour ended, Lesh suffered internal bleeding and was hospitalized. It was then that doctors recognized the urgency of his condition and began the search for a donor liver.

In related news, a great deal of Dead energy will descend on Oakland, California on New Year's Eve as several Further Festival veterans gather to ring in the new year at Kaiser Auditorium. The sold-out show, featuring Bob Weir's band Ratdog, Mickey Hart and Planet Drum, Hot Tuna, String Cheese Incident and KVHW, will undoubtedly feature numerous get-well wishes to Lesh from the stage and audience.

Lesh's statement, posted Christmas Day on the Grateful Dead web site:

Dear Friends; I'd like you all to know that my surgery was a success and that I was able to leave the hospital after six days, so that I could be at home with my family for Christmas. I must say that today was the most joyous and wonderful Christmas of my entire life, probably because I feel completely reborn through the miracle of this transplant and the love of so many people that has been granted to me over the past few months. It seems to me that through the prayers and healing light that you've sent me, that you yourselves have come closer together, and that's the other part of the miracle. I feel so blessed by your love and prayers, and I'm hoping to recover quickly so that I can continue to contribute to the building of our community of love. I'd like to ask that you send your prayers out also to the family of the donor, whose grief must be very great at this time, and to bless the spirit of the donor as his soul continues its journey. -Phil