Stephen Termini, the New York tourist who was seriously assaulted in Dublin on July 19, is out of his coma, his sons Mike and Jesse Rizzuto, who flew to Ireland this week, revealed on Friday.
“He is awake," Mike Rizzuto said of his father while speaking to Virgin Media News on Friday, July 28.
"He’s actually out of the coma, thankfully.
“[We] still don’t know about the eye. Don’t know what’s to come with all that, but he’s out of the coma so that’s at least good.
“So, we’re just taking it hour by hour.”
Breaking: The sons of Stephen Termini, the American tourist who was assaulted in Dublin, have been speaking to @Hanelizaa and say their dad is out of a coma#vmnews pic.twitter.com/MYQ0zO6MkL
— Virgin Media News (@VirginMediaNews) July 28, 2023
The Rizzuto brothers arrived in Dublin on Thursday, July 27, just over a week after their father was hospitalized after being seriously assaulted on Dublin's Talbot Street on Wednesday night, July 19.
The brothers have had kind words for the outpouring of support they've received since the assault on their father.
“Everybody has reached out to us to say, ‘This isn’t what it’s like, we want to show you what it’s like,'" Jesse told RTÉ News on Friday.
“And the donations - we never expected a turnout like this. We had it set for a smaller amount just to get us over here and see him.
“Everybody that’s donated has left us comments as well,” Jesse said of the kind outpouring of support, adding "It's amazing."
Mike said: “We’re so thankful about everything.
“I wish I could just line everybody up and shake everyone’s hands and give hugs.
“Thank you, seriously.”
Jesse added: “How do you thank over four thousand people?”
The sons of the American tourist who was hospitalised after being attacked in Dublin city centre have expressed their gratitude to the Irish people who have supported them since the incident. Mike and Jesse Rizzuto arrived in Ireland yesterday to visit their father pic.twitter.com/OIHQWHA6QC
— RTÉ News (@rtenews) July 28, 2023
At the time of publication on Friday evening, their GoFundMe had surpassed $126k from 4.3k donations, far exceeding their initial goal of $10k.
Stephen Termini in Dublin. (Facebook)
On Thursday night, Jesse posted on social media saying he and his brother Mike had made it to Ireland.
After noting that he and his brother “remain hopeful” about their father’s condition, Jesse wrote: “The people of Ireland have been incredibly supportive and have been trying to help us every step of the way, and we truly could not be more grateful for these people doing everything they can for us, it truly is making this entire process easier and again we could not be more grateful to everyone here.”
He added: “Thank you to everyone who made this possible and everyone still helping us out every step.”
On Thursday, July 20, Gardaí in Store Street said they were appealing for witnesses after a man in his 50s was attacked by a number of persons and seriously assaulted on Talbot Street at about 10:40 pm on Wednesday, July 19.
The victim, since named as Termini, was hospitalized at Beaumont Hospital.
His sister later told IrishCentral that there was a possibility that her brother, who had "saved every penny" for his "dream" trip to Ireland to research his Irish roots, could lose an eye.
The assault prompted widespread discussions regarding safety in Ireland's capital city.
One juvenile was arrested and charged on Sunday, July 23, gardai said. Two more juveniles were also arrested and charged on Thursday, July 27. The three suspects have reportedly been remanded on bail.
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