Tracy Morgan addresses driver 10 years after crash that put him in coma: 'Me and my comrades forgive you'

The comedian's friend and mentor James McNair was killed in the crash, while Morgan and three others were severely injured.

Tracy Morgan is reflecting on the car accident that put him in a coma, nearly killed him, and claimed the life of his friend 10 years ago.

In a statement provided to PEOPLE a decade after the crash, the 30 Rock star said Friday, "Today is 10 years since our fateful accident, and I want to say to everyone who was in the van with me that night I Love you, and we miss you, Uncle Jimmy Mac and God bless your family."

Morgan, 55, also addressed the driver of the Walmart truck that collided with his limousine van on June 7, 2014, saying, "To the driver that night and his family, me and my comrades forgive you."

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The accident occurred on the New Jersey Turnpike when a Walmart truck collided with the back of the 10-seat vehicle carrying Morgan and others. Comedian James McNair, a.k.a. Morgan's mentor Uncle Jimmy Mack, died in the crash at 62, while Morgan was sent to the hospital in a coma with a broken leg, and three other passengers were severely injured. Morgan was comatose for two weeks and spent five months in a wheelchair as he rehabilitated his leg.

Morgan sued Walmart for negligence a month after the incident, alleging that the company had forced the driver to make an 11-hour commute before his lengthy shift on the clock, meaning he had been awake for more than 24 hours when the collision occurred. The driver's lawyer denied that claim.  Walmart alleged that Morgan and the three other passengers were not wearing seatbelts during the accident, which they denied. The suit was ultimately settled in May 2015.

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Later, federal regulators investigated the accident and found that the driver had been awake for more than 28 hours, and that the passengers were not wearing seat belts.

Morgan previously discussed the accident in his 2017 Netflix comedy special Staying Alive. "I suffered some terrible injuries — traumatic brain injury," he said. "I broke every bone in my face, my ribs. I pulverized my femur. I'm from the ghetto, and after I came out the coma I was blind for a week, and where I come from you don't want to be blind for a second. All kinds of s--- started coming up missing in my hospital room."

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Morgan also said that he behaved strangely after the accident, but his then-wife didn't think much of it. "After the coma I was behaving erratically," he said. "I was acting really erratically and the doctors told my wife, 'Mrs. Morgan, that's the brain trauma.' And my wife looked at the doctor and said, 'Nah. Nah. [He's] always been crazy. I was hoping the accident was going to fix his crazy brain.'"

Read the original article on Entertainment Weekly.