Haydain Neale was a Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 singer–songwriter

Singer–songwriter

Singer-songwriters are musicians who write, compose and sing their own musical material including lyrics and melodies. As opposed to contemporary popular music singers who write their own songs, the term singer-songwriter describes a distinct form of artistry, closely associated with the...

 from Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton, Ontario

Hamilton is a port city in the Canadian province of Ontario. Conceived by George Hamilton when he purchased the Durand farm shortly after the War of 1812, Hamilton has become the centre of a densely populated and industrialized region at the west end of Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe...

. He was best known as the lead singer of Juno Award

Juno Award

The Juno Awards are presented annually to Canadian musical artists and bands to acknowledge their artistic and technical achievements in all aspects of music...

-winning band, jacksoul

Jacksoul

jacksoul, sometimes stylized as jackSOUL, was a Canadian soul and R&B band. Based in Toronto, the band was fronted by singer Haydain Neale, and was best known for their hits "Can't Stop" and "Still Believe in Love"....

. Neale also served on the faculty of the Humber College

Humber College

Humber College Institute of Technology & Advanced Learning is a polytechnic college in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Humber offers more than 150 programs including: bachelor’s degree, diploma, certificate, post-graduate certificate and apprenticeship programs, across 40 fields of study. Humber serves...

 Summer Songwriting Workshop and as president of the Songwriters Association of Canada

Songwriters Association of Canada

The Songwriters Association of Canada is a Canadian organization dedicated exclusively to Canadian composers, lyricists and songwriters. Their mission is to develop and protect the creative and business environments for songwriters in Canada and around the world.- Proposal to Monetize File Sharing...

.

Traffic accident

Neale was involved in a traffic accident on Kennedy Road in Toronto on August 3, 2007, and was sent to hospital, when a Honda Civic

Honda Civic

The Honda Civic is a line of subcompact and subsequently compact cars made and manufactured by Honda. The Civic, along with the Accord and Prelude, comprised Honda's vehicles sold in North America until the 1990s, when the model lineup was expanded...

 collided with his Vespa

Vespa

Vespa is an Italian brand of scooter manufactured by Piaggio. The name means wasp in Italian.The Vespa has evolved from a single model motor scooter manufactured in 1946 by Piaggio & Co. S.p.A...

 scooter. He was shortly thereafter reported to be in a critical condition

Critical Condition

Critical condition is a medical state.Critical Condition may also be:* Critical Condition , an episode of the television series Sex and the City* Critical Condition , a 1987 comedy film...

. On August 18, 2007, it was reported that Neale had been in a coma since the accident occurred. The 27-year-old driver of the car was charged with making an unsafe turn and appeared in court on October 25. On October 1, jacksoul

Jacksoul

jacksoul, sometimes stylized as jackSOUL, was a Canadian soul and R&B band. Based in Toronto, the band was fronted by singer Haydain Neale, and was best known for their hits "Can't Stop" and "Still Believe in Love"....

's official webpage announced that Neale was recovering and remained in hospital. Another posting on January 8, 2008 confirmed that his condition had continued to improve. Neale spent more than two years recovering from the accident.

Death

On October 26, 2009, Jacksoul's official website announced that the group would be releasing their first album in over three years. The album, SOULmate, was scheduled to be released on December 1, 2009. It contains 10 new songs written before Neale's accident. The first single, "Lonesome Highway", was made available on November 3, 2009.

On November 22, 2009, aged 39, Haydain Neale died of lung cancer at Toronto

Toronto

Toronto is the provincial capital of Ontario and the largest city in Canada. It is located in Southern Ontario on the northwestern shore of Lake Ontario. A relatively modern city, Toronto's history dates back to the late-18th century, when its land was first purchased by the British monarchy from...

's Mount Sinai Hospital. He had been diagnosed seven months earlier. In a released statement, Neale's wife Michaela said "Through all these challenges, Haydain's sense of humour and love of music were ever-present. He constantly brightened the room with his singing and his smile. His joyful presence and beautiful voice will be missed by us all." All profits from the SOULmate go to the Haydain Neale Family Trust