Tracy Morgan Reflects On Near-Fatal Truck Crash & Friend's Death
Tracy Morgan Reflects On Near-Fatal 2014 Truck Crash That Killed His Friend
It’s been over 10 years since Tracy Morgan’s near-fatal accident, when a Walmart tractor-trailer crashed into his limousine, and he’s still feeling the effects of the traumatic events.
He recently sat down with CBS Mornings to discuss his new Paramount+ comedy series, Crutch, and the impact of the crash on his life. Morgan admits that even now, he’s got his off days.
“There are days where I don’t physically feel well. You got to understand what I’ve been through,” he said. “I’ve been hit by a truck that was doing 75 miles per hour with 85,000 lbs of frozen food in the back. I broke every bone in my face.”
Former NFL player and now CBS Mornings host Nate Burleson then poses the question people have had about him since the accident: how he can be happy that he survived the crash, made a full recovery, and received an undisclosed eight-figure settlement from Walmart.
But for Morgan, he’s still grieving the loss of his friend and fellow comedian James McNair, who was killed in the crash.
“I tell you like this, Nate. I give it all back if I get my friend back. I wouldn’t blink. Miss you, Jim. I give it all back if I get him back. But that’s not going to happen. So, I got to live on.”
The comedian and actor spoke about the importance of forgiveness, even making amends with the truck driver who crashed into him.
“The man almost killed me in that Walmart truck. I forgave him as soon as I came out the coma. I forgave him. If I didn’t, I wouldn’t be able to move forward,” he said.
He adds that forgiveness was imperative to him because he would have been too angry to be funny, and it doesn’t mean he has to forget all the hurt he’s experienced.
Elsewhere in the interview, he talked about how much his new show Crutch hits home. A spinoff of The Neighborhood, it finds Morgan, a widowed father of two, moving back to Harlem, New York, which is a tragedy he similarly faced when his wife and high school sweetheart Sabine died of cancer in 2016.
“I was with her in the hospital the day she closed her eyes, and I said, ‘I love you. I miss you and please forgive me for any hurt I’ve ever caused you, and I will see you again.'”
