Fan hit by broken bat at Fenway Park discharged from hospital
The recovery of Tonya Carpenter, the 44-year-old fan who was struck and badly injured by Brett Lawrie’s broken bat on June 5 at Fenway Park, has taken another positive step.
According to Alec Shirkey of MLB.com, a hospital spokeswoman said that Carpenter was discharged from Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center on Friday and will now continue her recovery in a rehabilitation facility.
The update is the latest in a string of uplifting and encouraging developments directly following the perilous 24 hour period that followed the incident. Carpenter was initially admitted to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with what a police spokesperson described as life-threatening injuries.
Carpenter was stabilized in serious condition last weekend, before being upgraded to fair condition on Monday and good condition on Thursday.
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Dr. Efstathios Papavassiliou, a Beth Israel neurosurgeon, provided the most recent update.
“Ms. Carpenter’s recovery so far has been excellent,” Papavassiliou said. “She’s getting stronger every day, and we’ve seen tremendous progress. We’re confident she’s ready to move forward with the next phase of her care.”
Understandably, the family continues to ask for privacy as Carpenter continues her recovery. We did however learn that Brett Lawrie sent her flowers this week, which the family said remained by her bedside until her discharge on Friday.
The amount of progress that Carpenter has made over the past week is truly remarkable. With all of the talk and focus that has been put on the fan safely issue itself — which is absolutely necessary — it’s just great to hear that she’s improving and hopefully well on her way to a full recovery.
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Mark Townsend is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Townie813
