Almost a year after he suffered a traumatic brain injury during a fight outside an Orinda house party, Michael Jerrido has returned to his home in Largo, Fla. – largely due to donations from residents of the town where he was injured.
Jerrido, a football player attending Chabot College in Hayward, was part of a group of people attending a party at an Airbnb rental home on Camino Encinas the evening of February 13, 2016 when he was involved in a fight with another man. Jerrido was knocked unconscious and fell, with witnesses saying his attacker continuing to beat him as he lay on the ground.
The 21-year-old remained in serious condition at a hospital in Oakland as his family attempted to raise $30,000 needed for a special medical transport flight back to Florida. A GoFundMe account started to raise the needed funds passed the level needed – with many donations coming from Orindans who neither knew Michael or what had happened to him until news of the assault began to spread.
“No, we don’t know him,” said one Orindan who spoke on the condition his name and amount of his donation remain undisclosed. “But it happened here and he was far from home. We had the means to help so we did.”
Family members say Jerrido made the flight home Wednesday, Jan. 11.
A suspect in what was later classified as an attempted homicide was arrested, with Falealea Tytus Maka, 21, taken into custody by members of the US Marshals’ Fugitive Task Force and the Contra Costa County Office of the Sheriff Warrant Service Unit.
Has it really been that long? Gosh.
I hope he’s doing well. Kudos to the generous Orindans.