Breakthrough for Bryan Stow - he's speaking

Kevin Fagan, Chronicle Staff Writer

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/22/BAQ91L84Q2.DTL#ixzz1YjPABo6t
(09-22) 14:42 PDT SAN FRANCISCO -- In a breakthrough in his recovery from being beaten nearly to death in March, Giants fan Bryan Stow was able to speak several words this week for the first time and carry on a conversation, according to his family's website.
The website, "Support4BryanStow.com," said Wednesday that Stow was able to say the names of his daughter and son. Soon afterward, he was able to say his birth date and tell his sister he loved her. And when he was shown pictures of his children, Tyler and Tabitha, he said, "I would like to see them."
The progress happened about a week after Stow had a shunt installed, the family said. The device drains fluid from the brain. Until now, he apparently had been able only to mouth his name and a few other words on occasion.
Stow, a 42-year-old paramedic from Santa Cruz, was attacked outside Dodger Stadium on March 31 after an opening day game between the Giants and Dodgers. During the beating his head was punched, kicked and slammed onto concrete, causing a traumatic brain injury.
Two men from San Bernardino County, Louie Sanchez, 29, and Marvin Norwood, 30, pleaded not guilty last month to the assault.
Stow is at San Francisco General Hospital, where he has undergone a series of operations and is receiving rehabilitative therapy.
"We are encouraged by Bryan Stow's continued neurological improvement and can report that he is beginning to talk again," Dr. Geoff Manley, the hospital's chief of neurosurgery, wrote in a statement confirming the progress. "However, he remains seriously injured and has several ongoing medical issues that we are currently managing.
"It is premature to predict where his long journey will end, and he is not out of the woods yet," Manley said. "We are monitoring him closely and treating him aggressively."
Stow's family could not be reached, but was clearly encouraged by the development.
"We are blown away with all of this," the family wrote on its website. "Literally one day we got some facial responses and the next, he's talking.
"His voice is gravelly and you have to be close to hear him, but he is talking."


source: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/09/22/BAQ91L84Q2.DTL