This is a sad story. Late Friday night/early Saturday morning, Tracy Morgan was traveling with some friends in a limo bus following a stand-up show in Dover, Delaware. The limo bus became part of a multi-car crash that left several people, including Tracy, critically injured. One man, Tracy’s close friend James McNair, was killed in the crash:
Tracy Morgan is in intensive care Saturday after the limousine bus he was riding in was involved in a multi-vehicle accident on the New Jersey Turnpike. The vehicle carrying the former Saturday Night Live and 30 Rock cast member, 45, and six others was involved in a six-vehicle accident on the turnpike near Cranbury Township at about 1 a.m. Saturday, Sgt. First Class Greg Williams told the Associated Press.
Williams said one person died in the crash that occurred in the northbound lanes of the turnpike near mile marker 71.5. He has been identified as James McNair, and was in the same vehicle as Morgan. McNair was a comedian and friend of Morgan’s who performed under the name Uncle Jimmy Mack.
Comedians Harris Stanton and Ardie Fuqua, who were in the limousine bus, were also hospitalized with injuries. (Fuqua had posted a photo from inside the tour bus shortly before the accident.) Morgan’s assistant, Jeff Millea, was also on the bus, as were two drivers.
“Tracy remains in critical condition at Robert Wood Johnson Hospital,” Morgan’s rep confirmed to PEOPLE in a statement. “He sustained these injuries in an accident that occurred early this morning as one of several passengers in a chauffeured SUV returning from a tour date in Delaware.”
“His family is now with him and he is receiving excellent care. We don’t anticipate much of a change in his condition today but will provide a further update once more information becomes available.”
“He’s not in good shape,” Morgan’s ex-wife Sabina Morgan told the New York Daily News. “I’m traumatized. I’m so upset. I can’t believe it. It’s like I’m in a nightmare.”
She said that the comedian had a broken leg and was unconscious, but doctors anticipated he would recover. The mother or Morgan’s fiancée, Megan Wollover, told the Daily News that she “was devastated” when she learned of her future son-in-law’s accident, but was relieved to learn that her daughter and the couple’s 11-month-old baby, Maven, weren’t traveling on the bus with him. “I just hope he gets through this,” Christine Wollover added.
Morgan and his assistant, Millea, had been transported to hospital in a helicopter, Sgt. Williams said. Stanton was released from hospital on Saturday, while Fuqua and Millea remained in critical condition, a hospital spokesperson confirms to PEOPLE.
The limo bus played no part in causing the accident – ABC News reports that a big-rig truck driver was at fault. Apparently, the driver, Kevin Roper, fell asleep or he was overly tired while driving, and he crashed into several cars including the limo bus. The driver has been charged with “one count of death by auto and four counts of assault by auto after the tractor-trailer he was driving crashed into the van at 1 a.m. today, the Middlesex County Prosecutor’s Office said.”
People have been tweeting Tracy’s verified Twitter account with well-wishes all weekend – go here to see.
Photos courtesy of WENN, Fame/Flynet.
So sad. A friend of mine caused a bad accident falling asleep at the wheel at a young age, and it changed his life forever. He is so lucky no one got killed. It’s dangerous, and not worth it.
Yes, this is very sad. When I first heard about the accident, one of my first thoughts was of his adorable baby girl. I so hope he has a speedy recovery and is back home with his family soon.
My goodness.
This is sad!!
What’s terrible about that is the “not worth it” part. I’m regularly tired and I live in a high traffic area and frequently find myself fighting sleep going to and from work, and I have no choice, it’s not like can call out tired every other day. It absolutely terrifies me that I might fall asleep and kill myself or someone else one of these days. My ex never understood when I would say I needed to get home and get to sleep because it is so dangerous to be tired and driving. How sad for everyone involved. The worst has been when my daughter is in the car and we are literally 2 minutes from home and I find myself nodding off.
He was so funny on 30 Rock. I really hope he recovers alright. I would be very upset if his condition got worse.
I’ve been watching an episode a day for the last 2 months, because I never caught it while it was on air. So right now I feel like he’s a friend, or even a goofy uncle. I’m really hoping he pulls through, this really upsets me. 🙁
I’ve been on that highway, it is treacherous. If you can avoid it, do so at any cost.
I hope the rest of the people survive including Tracy.
I have some thoughts on the Walmart transport, but I’ll reserve that for later.
Terrible highway. All the best wishes to Tracy for a full and speedy recovery.
Ita. I live in NYC and I-95 is no joke. Anytime we have to take it I’m nervous. Overnight and very early mornings are the worst because of sleepy drivers and long haul truckers. Not that they’re all reckless but a great deal of them drive in such a way as to make you hold your breath until they pass. I am saddened and horrified by this accident but not surprised in the least.i pray that Tracy and the other three individuals recover and my heart goes out to the loved ones of the comedian who lost his life. Very, very sad.
I was in NYC once and we were slated to stay in NJ because it was cheaper but after driving on the AC once, I canceled our reservation and found us a place to stay in the city and canceled our rental car. I couldn’t handle the roads they frightened this poor little Canadian to death.
You’re right, it is no joke. When we take road trips my heart is in my mouth, people fly by doing 90 like it’s nothing. When you’re driving you don’t even realize how fast you are going, because you simply are trying to keep up with traffic. One of the worst was driving at night from Maine back to NY during a rainstorm. Poorly lit sections of roadway, barely visible lane dividers, speeding drivers, and truckers driving aggressively. Couldn’t wait to get home and couldn’t praise my hubby enough for his driving skills. The trucks are intimidating to say the least, and when driving on Long Island, I stay off the LIE and take the Northern State (Grand Central Pkwy) where they are not allowed.
Now in the past several years there have been so many incidents of drivers getting on the roadways and obliviously driving the wrong way. Somehow cars speeding by them in the opposite direction, and honking their horns to alert the clueless driver doesn’t seem to be enough. Some horrific accidents have occurred as a result. I’m always saying a little prayer and feel relieved when we reach our destination safely.
Nicollette, are you talking about that Diane woman upstate? Ended up killling herself, her daughter, two nieces, 3 ppl in the car she hit and permanently disfuguring her son? That was so horrific. If you can find it, watch the documentary There Is Something Wrong With Aunt Diane.
I live in South Jersey and our highways are bad enough, but I really hate driving north Jersey even more.
Speedy recovery to everyone injured, and prayers to the loved ones of the man who died.
Here’s hoping Tracy has a speedy recovery.
I live in NJ. I avoid most of our highways at almost all costs. I’ll spend an extra 30 minutes on the pikes and back roads instead of taking the AC Expressway. I hate the turnpike. Drivers around here are insane.
Truckers all over the country are terribly overworked and this is the result.
Anyway, I hope Tracy makes a full recovery. How sad for the friend that died and that friend’s family.
This. We used to drive to CT from Bergen County, where Tracy currently lives. We used to live in Fort Lee and I never, ever felt safe on 95.
Driving’s crazy all over the country! Try the Dan Ryan in Chicago – people crossing lanes going 80 not three feet from your bumper. It’s like speed limits don’t exist and people drive like they think they’re in a video game. They endanger everyone around them and there are absolutely no consequences. Good luck to Tracy and his family. Hoping Walmart gets nailed if they were breaking regs.
I agree and disagree. We are from chicago, now living in Philly and we just did a road trip up to Maine and we traveled this highway later the same day that he was in this accident and I have to say the Dan Ryan feels like a shining example of safety comparatively. We are going to go like 3 hours out of the way just to avoid it on the drive back because eff that. (Also bc we are traveling with our 2 dogs and they don’t make good seat belts for dogs yet, that I’m aware of, so we are always on extra alert with them in the car)
This hits very close to home because I was involved in an accident Saturday evening. A truck collided with us.. I wasn’t driving and couldn’t be more grateful that no one sustained any serious injuries.
I’m sending well wishes his way
And I send well wishes to you and to your fellow passengers. Take care, and so sorry that you had a wreck!
So glad you and everyone involved is okay.
@ Frida_k and Damesnarkweek
Thank you so much! The car’s a total write off. But I’m so grateful to be here. That was a real life miracle. May you and yours be safe and sound. Amen
Awful thing to happen but glad to hear that you and everyone else in the car are alright.
Thank goodness you and your fellow passengers are ok.
This is terrible. I hope everyone involved makes a speedy and full recovery!
One of his last tweets was about how cool it was to be traveling in such comfort/luxury (it was a touring Mercedes limo), saying “life on the road is a good life”. Eery and very sad.
I enjoy him so much. stay strong Tracy!!
He is such a funny guy. I’m sorry he’s lost his long-time friend and feel for that man’s family and for anyone else hurt. I hope he recovers quickly from his physical injuries and that they aren’t too significant.
+1 praying for them all, and their families and friends.
My well-wishes and happy thoughts are with Tracy and his family that he makes a full recovery. I don’t usually have time for tv but I used to watch SNL when he was on it. I’m also hoping that his family stays strong and united. Special thoughts go out to Uncle Jimmy Mack’s family and friends. It’s a terrible tragedy.
Trucking is a dangerous job, especially if you have overworked truckers as I have no doubt Wal-Mart likely way overworked that man. My family owns a business that employs truck drivers and my dad and uncle have always told the drivers that they would rather shipments get there late than for them to drive on the road when tired and risk the lives of others. That’s why most of my dad’s drivers have worked for him for over 20 years and there hasn’t been an accident in just as long.
I really hope there is an investigation of this Walmart employee and if he was overworked. Walmart busted 3 unions that tried to organize their employees, and republican states has dismantld unions as well.
Better not find out his log book for hours on road was overdue and he was forced to make transports past his legal limits of hours for driving just to keep his job. I can just see this leading back to Walmart pressuring underpaid employees that would do anything to keep their jobs.
Walmart already stated that they would flip the bill to victims already before investigation is even finished. Usually corporations lawyer up and say nothing except that this is a tragedy and hearts go out to injured. This is a first for a corp to admit fault from the get go, unless Morgan’s celebrity has something to do with it.
I also feel bad for the driver of the big rig, hope this in the end was just a bad accident with nothing else coming out that influences this like drugs, alcohol, being overworked, cellphones and so on.
Hope everyone has a speedy and healthy recovery
Wait until it comes to actual dispersement of money. Wal-Mart will offer a pittance. If Tracy’s leg got crushed as it is being rumoured it may be years – if ever- before he can return to standup. I know he made a ton working on 30 Rock but the man still had years of stand-up left in him. But yeah, notice how there’s been no mention of the log books? Something’s up with that and Wal-Mart seems to be covering up a bigger crime and something tells me it’s that they are not following transport guidelines. If that is the case then they need to drop charges against the driver and go afrer Wal-Mart for forcing him to work too hard.
No doubt Walmart’s response is because of Tracy’s celebrity. Reports of the accident have been everywhere and we’re all still waiting and praying Tracy and the others will pull through, very bad publicity for Walmart’s name to be attached to the story.
I feel bad for the driver too, assuming there was nothing like drugs or alcohol involved. Truck drivers are so overworked and I can’t imagine Walmart is a friendly, supportive employer for them.
This made me so sad to hear. Prayers for a quick recovery and for Jimmy Mack’s family.
Sad to hear, sending prayers for all involved.
Very sad. Get well wishes and prayers for everyone, especially the victim’s family.
I worked night shift for years, one day remember driving through the yard into the drive and thinking great, I hope no one saw that, then waking up in the front seat 3 hours later- luckily turned off the car but I don’t remember doing it and I really didn’t remember 75% of drive home. I went to doc to try and get something to make me sleep (cause I couldn’t during the day) he told me statistics about how each hour of sleep deprivation was = to so many drinks and I wasbasically worse than any drunk driver on the road.
Very sad. Hope he pulls through, he has 4 children. Hope the other injured will be in better condition soon.
This is not going to turn out to be “just an accident” because there is no such thing. Accidents have causes and contributing factors such as poor decision making – such as continuing to drive when one has been awake for 24 hours. I noticed the police did not waste any time in arresting the driver.
I had not heard that Tracey’s leg was crushed. What I read indicated fractures. Ironically, a relative of mine was in a motor vehicle accident some 20 years ago and had what sounds like almost identical injuries. This person was not wearing a seatbelt.
Several complicated immediate surgeries were required to repair and set the bone fractures. (All three bones in the right leg were broken with the bottom two sticking out where they had pierced the skin). Plus there were fractures of the nose, an arm bone, several wrist bones, and 3 bones in the foot.
The biggest problem, causing chronic pain that is present even all these years later was multiple rib fractures (six) along with a collapsed, damaged lung and a ruptured diaphragm. Surgeons did not fixate fractured ribs in those days. My relative ended up having non-union of several ribs, and later the development of neuromas on damaged nerves. Over the years this person has had 4 subsequent open chest surgeries in attempts to repair and fixate the ribs and the cut out the neuromas in order to reduce/eliminate chronic pain.
The surgeries helped somewhat, but not totally and this patient still suffers chronic pain. But it is less than it was.
Nowadays there are methods used at the time of the accident to fixate broken ribs. I have written this detailed description here in the hopes that someone who knows and is close to Tracey Morgan’s family will inform them of the importance of having damaged ribs fixated. (I am not talking about cracked ribs, I am talking about “broken in half” rib bones.)
It probably would have made all the difference for my relative had doctors been able to fixate the broken ribs at the time of the accident.
Best wishes to Tracey for a complete recovery. He likely faces a lengthy recovery period. The complete transection of a broken femur bone can take numerous months to heal because it is the thickest bone in the body. For my relative that bone took almost 10 months to heal. So that means 10 months in a leg cast.