Report: Injured East Village Farm and Grocery florist has lost his memory, use of his voice

Akkas Ali, the florist at East Village Farm and Grocery who was critically injured in June after an out-of-control driver jumped the curb, is currently a patient at the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in West Orange, N.J.

Last week, CB3 member Chad Marlow presented Ali's son, Rukanul Islam, 22, with a check for $18,047.32 — all money raised through the crowdsourcing campaign.

The Villager has an update on Mr. Ali's condition this week via his son:

[He] said his father is conscious, and will open his eyes if someone is in the room and talking to him. He can turn his head and point to people with his right arm, and can raise his right leg. But his left leg and ankle are injured, and he’s not moving that leg or his left arm, either.

He is also intubated — periodically put on a ventilator to help him breathe — and because the tube crosses over his vocal chords, he cannot currently talk.

In addition, as a result of brain injury suffered from the force of the impact, he has completely lost his memory, and currently doesn’t even recognize his own family members.

However dire, Ali's son said that "his condition is getting better."

Shaun Martin, who prosecutors say was drunk "and high on PCP" when he drove his car onto a Second Avenue sidewalk on June 19, pleaded not guilty during his arrangement in Manhattan Supreme Court last month.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Car smashes into East Village Farm & Grocery on Second Avenue; 6 reported injured (62 comments)

Campaign launched to raise money for gravely injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker

1st week of crowdsourcing campaign for injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker raises $11k

Crowdsourcing campaign for injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker raises nearly $19,000

The crowdsourcing campaign ended this past weekend for the family of gravely injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker Akkas Ali (pictured above). At the end of the campaign, 290 people contributed $18,579 for Ali's rehabilitation.

Community Board 3 member Chad Marlow organized the campaign. As he said in June in announcing the campaign:

"I went through this same thing with my father when he was just 4 years younger than Mr. Ali, and one of Mr. Ali's sons is the same age as I was when my father was stuck and seriously and permanently injured by a speeding, intoxicated driver. So I know how much this kind of support would help him and his family."

We asked Marlow for his reaction to the campaign results yesterday:

"The success of this effort is a wonderful testament to our community ... 290 contributors stepped forward to help this poor family. We have collectively done a great good and, in doing so, have revealed the great goodness lies at the center of the East Village's soul. I am enormously proud and grateful to be part of this community."

Marlow reports that Ali has been transferred to the Kessler Institute for Rehabilitation in New Jersey.

"Mr. Ali has been opening his eyes and has been exhibiting responsive eye movements, but now that he is at Kessler, which is one of the best rehabilitation facilities in the world — Christopher Reeve also went there — the real work of getting better can begin."

Marlow's father was also a patient at Kessler following his accident.

Manhattan District Attorney Cy Vance reportedly charged the driver, Shaun Martin of Queens, with vehicular assault.

Previously on EV Grieve:
[Updated] Car smashes into East Village Farm & Grocery on Second Avenue; 6 reported injured (62 comments)

Campaign launched to raise money for gravely injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker

1st week of crowdsourcing campaign for injured East Village Farm and Grocery worker raises $11k