The organizers of a fundraiser to benefit the family of ROH Hall of Famer Jay Briscoe (Jamin Pugh) took to Facebook last night to issue an update on how Jay’s daughters, Gracie and Jayleigh, are doing.
As we’ve noted, Briscoe tragically passed away at the age of 38 on Tuesday evening following a fatal car accident near his home in Delaware. His two daughters, Gracie and Jayleigh, suffered severe injuries in the accident, and the driver of the other car also passed away. For those who missed the earlier reports, you can click here for the original report on details from the scene, along with the initial announcement on Briscoe’s passing from AEW President Tony Khan, and you can click here for the follow-up report with the comments from Briscoe’s wife, and comments from the Laurel School District. You can also click here for numerous Briscoe tributes from wrestlers and promotions, and you can click here for full details on the accident, including a statement from police.
In an update, friends of the family noted in their Facebook video that Jay’s 12-year-old daughter Gracie had a “rough night” the night before with lots of tingling and itching in her lower legs after undergoing surgery to repair a dislocated hip. She initially lost feeling from the waist down due to an L2 dislocation an L3/L4 fractures in her back, as well as spinal cord compression. She underwent surgery on Wednesday at 3am to relieve the spinal cord pressure, and that operation went as well as it could. She began occupational therapy on Friday and has regained feeling in her lower extremities. Gracie, who was transferred to a different hospital, has also started to make movements in her lower extremities using her thigh muscles, but nothing below the knee yet. It was said that she has a long way to go, but this was a “major, positive step” in her recovery. She was also able to get up and sit in a wheelchair on Friday, and is now taking oral pain medication, and is no longer using an IV. While she is “still groggy” from the medication, she has been getting a lot of sleep.
Jay’s 9-year-old daughter Jayleigh is still dealing with a lot of pain after suffering fractures of her fibula and tibia, which she underwent surgery for. She also suffered a C7 neck fracture, and L3/L4 fractures in her back. The neck fracture will keep her in a brace for around six weeks, while the back fractures will keep her in a brace for around twelve weeks. She also a broken rib and perforated bowel, among other injuries. Jayleigh was fitted for the back brace yesterday and was able to get up and sit on the side of her bed, and spent some time in a wheelchair on Friday, getting out of the bed for a little while. She still has a NG tube (nasogastric tube) in place, so she’s still unable to eat or drink, but doctors were hopeful that the tube would be removed today to allow her to return to eating normal foods. Jayleigh remains on an IV, and has spent most of the past few days sleeping.
It was said that both Gracie and Jayleigh have long roads of recovery ahead of them, including physical therapy.
Mark Briscoe and Papa Briscoe visited the girls at the hospital on Friday, along with their brother Gannon, who was at home at the time of the accident.
There is still no information on a funeral for Jay, but they said it is being discussed.
The GiveSendGo campaign launched for Jay’s family continues to raise money from fans and others in the pro wrestling business. The campaign began with a goal of $200,000, but as of this writing they have raised $269,850 from 2,616 donations. While the goal won’t be raised, the fund will remain open to help with the family’s medical costs.
You can access the GiveSendGo campaign at this link. The top pro wrestling-related donations are Chris Jericho with $15,000; Kenny Omega with $10,000; Nick Jackson with $10,000; Matt Jackson with $10,000; Kevin Owens and his family with $10,000; Adam Cole with $5,000; Dax Harwood and his family with $3,000; Jim Cornette and his wife Stacy with $2,000; Brian Last with $1,500; Ryan Barkan of Pro Wrestling Tees with $1,500. There are many additional donations, from in and out of the pro wrestling world.
For those who aren’t comfortable making online transactions, you can send checks to the Bank of Delmarva, made out to the Pugh Family Benefit. There is one local benefit t-shirt in the works from a Laurel resident, and a local business called A&K Tackle also has a “Pray for Pugh” t-shirt and sticker available to benefit the family.
You can mail cards to the family by sending them to Laurel High School at the following address:
Pugh Family
1133 S. Central Ave.
Laurel, DE 19956
We noted before how WarnerMedia reportedly prevented any significant tribute to Briscoe on Wednesday’s AEW Dynamite. While there was a show-opening graphic for Briscoe and a mention on commentary, and some wrestlers had in-ring tributes, AEW had their hands tied when it came to doing a much larger tribute show for Briscoe on Wednesday night. Since then, multiple sources have reiterated that AEW was going to do as much as they were allowed to do for Briscoe, and that it was not an AEW call to have just the graphic open the show as Briscoe was loved by many in the company.
There’s still no word yet on when AEW/ROH will air the Jay Briscoe Celebration of Life event that was taped on Wednesday night in Fresno, CA at the Save Mart Center following the Rampage tapings. However, Khan told the live crowd that this would be just the first show to celebrate Briscoe, indicating that ROH has plans for another show down the road.
The Celebration of Life show is set to air on YouTube and HonorClub, for free. In addition to the matches taped, the special will also feature videos of wrestlers discussing their time with Briscoe, plus classic matches from his career. For those who missed it, you can click here for spoilers from the taping. Matches taped were Juice Robinson vs. Brandon Cutler, Yuka Sakazaki vs. Sandra Moon, Marina Shafir vs. Mighty Myra, Eddie Kingston vs. QT Marshall, ROH World Women’s Champion Athena vs. Madison Rayne, ROH Pure Champion Wheeler Yuta vs. Hagane Shinno, and ROH World Champion Claudio Castagnoli vs. Christopher Daniels. There was also a lengthy in-ring tribute on the mic from Adam Cole.
Khan spoke to the live crowd after Caprice Coleman and Ian Riccaboni opened the taping, but there’s no word yet on if their speeches will air. Justin Roberts did ring announcing. The ring and set featured ROH logos and Briscoe graphics. The taping ended with Daniels and Castagnoli giving speeches in the ring. AEW reportedly rushed to bring several people in for the taping following Briscoe’s passing on Tuesday night, including Coleman and Riccaboni so they could call the action. AEW also tried to bring in other people to work the taping but due to how they were on the West Coast in Fresno, it was logistically impossible to get some across the country in time to work the taping. Ring announcer Bobby Cruise was one of the people they tried to bring in.
Impact Wrestling opened up Friday’s TV tapings in Kissimmee, Florida with a ten-bell salute for Briscoe. NJPW and Pro Wrestling NOAH also held a ten-bell salute for Briscoe at today’s Wrestle Kingdom 17 event in Yokohama, Japan. After paying tribute to Briscoe on Tuesday’s WWE NXT episode, shortly after the news of the accident broke, WWE also had Michael Cole remember Briscoe on SmackDown commentary last night. WWE Superstars also paid tribute to Briscoe in the ring, as seen in the tweet below with The Viking Raiders wearing “Dem Boys” armbands, and Kevin Owens wearing a “Jay” armband. “Top Dolla” AJ Francis also paid tribute to Briscoe during Hit Row’s post-show interview with Cathy Kelley, seen below as well.
https://twitter.com/ryansatin/status/1616607969327878147
— Kevinn (@FightOwensFight) January 21, 2023
“I’m from where Dem Boyz mask up, and tell you reach for the SKY” 🔝💵 https://t.co/UaOLySCbeJ
— A.J. FRANCI$ 💰 (@AJFrancis410) January 21, 2023
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