Tracy Morgan Struggling to Recover After Car Accident Earlier This Summer
Tracy Morgan, 45, had audiences across the country cracking up from his antics in his role as the hilarious and beloved Tracy Jordan. But the former 30 Rock star appeared in a different light Wednesday, struggling to recover from injuries he sustained in a car accident earlier this summer.
Dressed in jeans, a white shirt, and a New York Giants cap, the comedian sat firmly planted in a wheel chair, holding a small child near Mt. Sinai hospital, according to the NY Daily News. His lawyer, Benedict Morelli, told the Daily News that the chair has become a normal part of Morgan’s life. “He can’t do that many steps,” Morelli said. “He’s still unsteady. He has this head injury, and his leg isn’t totally better yet. He has to struggle to inch along.”
And walking is not an easy feat. The comedian and actor was seen earlier that day venturing down the steps of his home in Cresskill, N.J., with the assistance of a cane at his side before trading it for a walker as he slowly made his way toward an SUV.
Morgan is suing retail chain Walmart on grounds of negligence after one of its truck drivers critically injured Morgan when he slammed into the limo he was riding in on June 7 on the New Jersey Turnpike. The limo flipped over and collided with on-coming traffic, injuring Morgan, his personal assistant, Jeffrey Millea, 36, and comedian Ardie Fuqua, Jr, 43. Morgan had been coming back from a show in Delaware and was on his way to New York when the limo was struck, according to Zap2it.
Comedian James McNair, known popularly as Jimmy Mack, was also a passenger at the time. McNair was pronounced dead at the scene by authorities. He was 62.
Morgan suffered a broken nose, broken leg, and several rib bones along with a head injury, and spent weeks in rehab trying to learn to walk again. The driver of the truck, Kevin Roper, 35, pled not guilty to vehicular homicide and assault. Morgan alleges in his lawsuit that Roper fell asleep at the wheel because he had been driving 24 hours with no sleep, according to a criminal complaint filed against Roper, NBC New York reported.
Walmart, though, attributes the injuries that Morgan and his friends sustained to not wearing their seatbelts.
“I can’t believe Walmart is blaming me for an accident that they caused,” said Morgan in a statement published by the Daily News. “My friends and I were doing nothing wrong.”
Walmart affirms that its thoughts go out to all those injured in the accident and is hoping to reach a settlement in court.