The San Francisco Giants fan who spent weeks in a coma after
being brutally beaten at a Dodgers game in Los Angeles arrived
Monday to a semi-homecoming in the San Francisco Bay Area. Bryan
Stow, 42, was left with a fractured skull and brain damage after
two men attacked him March 31 in the Dodger Stadium parking lot
after the season’s opening game between the Giants and Dodgers. He
was placed in a medically induced coma to prevent seizures.
Although no longer comatose, he remained unconscious Monday and in
critical condition.
LOS ANGELES
The San Francisco Giants fan who spent weeks in a coma after being brutally beaten at a Dodgers game in Los Angeles arrived Monday to a semi-homecoming in the San Francisco Bay Area.
Bryan Stow, 42, was left with a fractured skull and brain damage after two men attacked him March 31 in the Dodger Stadium parking lot after the season’s opening game between the Giants and Dodgers.
He was placed in a medically induced coma to prevent seizures. Although no longer comatose, he remained unconscious Monday and in critical condition.
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After six weeks at Los Angeles County-USC Medical Center, Stow was taken Monday to San Francisco General Hospital, where the Santa Clara paramedic and father of two will be closer to home. Stow arrived at the hospital about 2 p.m. and was being assessed by medical staff.
A Los Angeles Police Department escort saw Stow and his medical team off at the Bob Hope Airport in Burbank, where he was loaded onto a medical jet to fly to San Francisco, said USC Medical Center spokeswoman Rosa Saca.
Saca said Stow opened his eyes Monday morning before his departure. It was not the first time, but she said his eyes remained open longer than nurses had seen in the past.
“Everybody felt like he knew he was going home,” she said.
It remained unclear whether he would wake.
“It’s very difficult to say what his prognosis might be,” Saca said. “We just know that his recovery is going to be very slow and very long.”
Since the attack, Stow’s family members said they had been overwhelmed by the outpouring of support and apologies from Los Angeles residents.
His sister, Bonnie Stow, who was waiting for him to arrive at the San Francisco hospital, was among the family members who stayed in Los Angeles for the duration of his time in the hospital there.
The family has expressed gratitude for the outpouring of support from Angelenos.
Bonnie Stow said that every day when family members stopped by the office at the hospital, they would find at least five and sometimes as many as 20 cards waiting.
Some people sent baked goods. Some offered prayers or apologies on behalf of Dodgers fans; others shared stories of loved ones who had recovered after dire brain injuries.
The hospital was inundated with calls from people seeking updates on Bryan Stow’s condition, so much so that his family posted a blog asking well-wishers to give the nursing staff a break from the queries.
And then there were the people who would approach the family in the hallway of the hospital to offer a hug and kind word.
“We couldn’t hear ‘We’re praying for you’ enough,” Bonnie Stow said.
— Story by Abby Sewell, Los Angeles Times
