The actor-comedian Tracy Morgan is in critical condition in hospital but was more responsive a day after he was badly hurt in a deadly New Jersey motorway crash, his spokesman said on Sunday.
Morgan was injured when a tractor-trailer rear-ended the limousine bus he was riding in early on Saturday with four other passengers.
Fellow comedian James McNair was killed in the wreck. Two other comics — Ardie Fuqua and Harris Stanton — were also in hospital with severe injuries, while a fifth passenger, Morgan’s assistant, Jeff Millea, was treated for minor injuries and released, police and hospital officials said.
Morgan’s spokesman, Lewis Kay, said the 45-year-old performer suffered several injuries, including a broken leg, a broken nose and several broken ribs and had undergone surgery on his injured leg.
“While Tracy remains in critical condition, he has been more responsive today, which is an incredibly encouraging sign,” Kay said in a statement. “We expect him to remain in the hospital for several weeks. His family is tremendously overwhelmed and appreciative of the outpouring of love and support from his fans.”
Morgan has three sons by his previous wife, Sabina Morgan, and is engaged to Megan Wollover, with whom he had a daughter in 2013.
Sabina Morgan told the New York Daily News she and Morgan’s sons were shaken by the accident.
“It’s like I’m in a nightmare,” she said.
Word of the crash prompted an outpouring of sentiment on social media.
“Get better fast ... You have most positive thoughts,” tweeted the actor and director Henry Winkler.