Nearly four months after a horrific crash that killed three people in East Oakland, Deshawn Murphy Sr. remains hospitalized, unable to walk, eat or speak as he works to recover from severe injuries.<\/p>\n
Murphy, 52, was walking to a corner store around 11:15 p.m. on May 16 near International Boulevard and 85th Avenue when a truck slammed onto the sidewalk.<\/p>\n
Police say the crash killed three people and injured three others, including Murphy. Investigators said the driver fled the scene before witnesses chased down and detained the 17-year-old driver.<\/p>\n
Witnesses said the crash did not appear to be intentional. Police have not publicly said what caused it.<\/p>\n
Before the crash, Murphy was working at UC Berkeley. His partner, Ora Meacham, described him as an active, social person who could make friends almost anywhere.<\/p>\n
“Everywhere he goes, he makes friends. He’s just a very kind, loving person,” Meacham said.<\/p>\n
Now, Murphy faces a dramatically different life.<\/p>\n
Doctors amputated his right leg after he was dragged in the crash. He also suffered severe brain injuries and other traumatic injuries.<\/p>\n
Murphy was initially treated at Highland Hospital. He is now at Kentfield Hospital, where he is receiving neurological treatment, physical therapy, and speech therapy.<\/p>\n
Gia Smith, an acute care nurse practitioner at Kentfield Hospital, said Murphy has made progress since arriving at the facility.<\/p>\n
“He has a helmet for neuroprotection. He also has a PEG tube [because] he’s not able to eat. And he’s making strides with his swallowing. He was pretty much comatose when he came. Now he’s alert, opening his eyes,” Smith said.<\/p>\n
For Meacham, those seemingly small changes have become major milestones.<\/p>\n
“He opens his eyes now. He was not doing that before,” she said.\u00a0 “He follows commands. He tries to say hi. And that’s a first. So he’s trying to talk.\u00a0 He’s making audible sounds.\u00a0 And that was something that was not possible a month ago.”<\/p>\n
But doctors have warned that Murphy’s recovery will be a long one, measured in months and years rather than weeks.<\/p>\n
Meacham has spent so much time at the hospital caring for Murphy that she lost her job. She said the emotional toll has been overwhelming.<\/p>\n
“It doesn’t seem like it’s happened. But every time I go home and he’s not there, it’s just heart-wrenching,” she said. “There are good days, bad days. I cry pretty much every day.”<\/p>\n
Despite the challenges, Meacham said she remains hopeful and is focused on Murphy’s progress.<\/p>\n
“It’s going to be a new life, a different life for us. But it’s going to be good because he is surrounded by so much love,” she said.<\/p>\n
Meacham credits Murphy’s improvements to what she calls a village of support \u2014 his family and the medical staff caring for him at Kentfield Hospital.<\/p>\n
The 17-year-old driver is expected to face vehicular manslaughter charges in juvenile court. Because the driver is a minor, the district attorney’s office said it cannot comment on the case.<\/p>\n
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