ALLENTOWN, Pa. — Authorities say a man died this week of injuries he sustained when he was hit by a vehicle in eastern Pennsylvania a half-century ago.
Coroner: Man dies of injuries sustained 50 years ago when struck by a car as an 8-year-old
The Lehigh County coroner's office said Richard Albright, 58, died Monday night at the Good Shepherd Home-Raker Center in Allentown.
Officials said he was one of two young boys injured in a July 1965 accident in Allentown. The other boy had only minor injuries.
The (Allentown) Morning Call said its reports at the time indicated that Albright suffered head injuries and two broken legs. He was reported in critical condition a day after the accident but was said to be "holding his own."
First Deputy Coroner Eric Minnich said Albright's case is unusual but not unprecedented in terms of the time between the injuries and the person's death.
"We looked back pretty far to see the chain of events," he told The Morning Call. "He was a quadriplegic secondary to this pedestrian accident. He was still receiving treatment for injuries received 50 years earlier.
"This required a lifetime of treatment and basically he was paralyzed," he said. "This is something that he never achieved a full recovery from."