An upbeat Tracy Morgan flashed the victory symbol and sent a grateful message to fans Monday morning as he spoke for the first time since the car accident that nearly killed him.
Moving gingerly and leaning on a walker, the 45-year-old comedian painstakingly hitched himself into a waiting Lincoln Navigator that had been pulled into the garage of his Cresskill, N.J., home.
As the black vehicle eased down the driveway, Morgan rolled down the passenger side window to greet reporters with a smile.
“I’m OK, I feel strong,” he said.
“Love you, thank you very much. Appreciate it,” he added, after some of the photographers gave him a brief burst of applause.
The “30 Rock” star suffered several cracked ribs and a severely broken leg when his Mercedes-Benz limousine was rear-ended by a speeding Wal-Mart tractor-trailer June 7, authorities said.
The former “Saturday Night Live” comedian was airlifted from the New Jersey Turnpike by helicopter to Robert Wood Johnson Hospital. He spent two weeks there before he was moved for a three-week stay at a rehab facility.
Morgan was noticeably thinner Monday and had a visible scar across his right temple.
He was accompanied by his fiancée and his infant daughter, as well as a female home health aide.
Morgan’s close pal, James (Uncle Jimmy Mack) McNair, was killed in the crash.
Last Thursday, the Bronx-born Morgan sued Wal-Mart, contending the retail giant was negligent because its driver, Kevin Roper, 35, hadn’t slept in 24 hours before the crash.
Roper, of Jonesboro, Ga., was charged with death by auto and assault by auto.
Roper has pleaded not guilty and denies he fell asleep at the wheel before the lethal moment of impact.
