Giants fan returns home 2 years after beating
Suffered brain damage after attack outside Dodger Stadium
A San Francisco Giants fan who suffered brain damage after a beating at Dodger Stadium has returned home after two years in hospitals and rehabilitation centres.
Bryan Stow's family said on its website Wednesday that Stow will now live with them in the Santa Cruz area after spending about a year at the Centre for Neuroskills in Bakersfield, a live-in rehab facility.
The family said Stow could have used more time at the centre, but their insurance will no longer pay for it, so Stow's parents and home nurses will give him the around-the-clock care he needs.
Stow, a paramedic, was beaten in a parking lot after the 2011 opening day game between the Giants and Dodgers in Los Angeles. Two Dodgers fans are awaiting trial on charges in the beating, which sparked outrage and brought stadium security changes around the state and country.
Stow's family said the transition home has been hard.
"Bryan requires 24-hour nursing care, but this is not covered by insurance," they wrote. "So we had to hire care givers in order to help Bryan to get up and showered in the morning, and get dressed and in bed in the evening."
They said that while Stow appears to be doing better, he has memory problems, pain and stiffness.
Stow's family said that due to cuts in therapy coverage, Stow has physically experienced a big setback.
"We do what we can at home, but he needs the five days a week that he grew accustomed to," they wrote. "We just don't know how to get that for him."
Calls to the San Francisco Giants and Los Angeles Dodgers were not immediately returned. A lawsuit by Stow against the Dodgers organization and then-owner Frank McCourt is pending.