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It's been a little over three years since Giants fan Bryan Stow was brutally beaten at Dodgers Stadium, leaving him permanently disabled, suffering from brain damage and with deep scars that run across his scalp.
His mother, Ann Stow, and others revealed in court the lasting effects the attack has had on her 45-year-old son. They were offering opening statements on Thursday as part of a civil suit filed against the L.A. Dodgers and former owner Frank McCourt, claiming that inadequate security in the stadium led to the beating. Ann Stow described her son's condition this way, according to the L.A. Times:
Bryan Stow wears a catheter at night and must be helped to the bathroom during the day. He wears adult diapers in case of accidents. Around the house, he relies on a walker and outside he's dependent on a wheelchair. He wears compression stockings to prevent blood clots. A damaged pituitary gland required injections. A bone growth in his left elbow has limited the use of his arm.
A neurosurgeon who treated Bryan Stow, said on Thursday that part of his skull had to be removed because he suffered a skull fracture as well as swelling in his brain. He also had to be placed in a medically-induced coma at the time.
Bryan Stow's family keeps a blog that chronicles how he is doing. In February, they posted about how they celebrated his 45th birthday, and also how he was struggling with the aftermath of the beating. They wrote:
We recently shaved Bryan’s head and it was shocking to see the damage to his skull. Seeing him stare at himself in the mirror was heartbreaking. Watching him touch the shunt that protrudes on the right side of his skull, the slightly sunken in left side and all the deep scars was heartbreaking.
Bryan Stow doesn't have any recollection of the tragic incident that happened on March 31, 2011, when he attended the Opening Day between the San Francisco Giants and Dodgers. Bryan Stow, a father of two and paramedic at the time, and his three friends were wearing Giants gear that day. Witnesses say that people were heckling Bryan Stow and his friends before he was was severely beaten by two men.
Dana Fox, an attorney for the Dodgers and McCourt, argued that they did provide adequate security that game day and blamed the incident on Louie Sanchez, 31, and Marvin Norwood, 32, who both pleaded guilty in February for beating Bryan Stow. Fox also argued that Bryan Stow was intoxicated himself and also heckled the Dodgers fans.
However, witnesses at a preliminary hearing said that there weren't any security guards present when the beating occurred, reported NBC Los Angeles.
