In a statement from a New Jersey courtroom on Tuesday, Tracy Morgan’s lawyer Benedict Morelli said that the former "SNL" and "30 Rock" star is still recovering from a severe brain injury he sustained in a highway crash this June, and it's unclear whether he will ever return to the "the Tracy Morgan he once was."
Morgan and his fellow passengers suffered serious injuries, and comedian James McNair was killed, when their limo bus was struck by a Wal-Mart truck on the New Jersey turnpike this past June. Morgan and the surviving passengers have since filed a suit against Wal-Mart, alleging that truck driver Kevin Roper had been awake for more than 24 hours when the crash occurred and that he should not have been driving. Roper has pleaded not guilty to charges of vehicular homicide and assault by auto, while Wal-Mart has countered that the passengers’ injuries were partly due to their failure to wear seat belts.
So far the details about the actor’s condition have been limited, but on Tuesday his lawyer said that the crash caused Morgan to suffer a broken leg, ribs and nose in addition to the traumatic brain injury. "He's fighting to get better, and if there's a chance for him to be back to the Tracy Morgan he once was, he's going to try to do that,” said Morelli. "But we just don't know because of the severity of the injuries that he sustained and the fact that he had such a severe brain injury.”
"When you have a traumatic brain injury it takes a very long time to find out how you're going to do and how much you're going to recover,” he continued. "You just don't know. So that's where he is. He's still fighting and trying to live his life at the same time and trying to get better, and he's just not better. We're hoping and praying to get him back to where he was. But the jury's out."
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