June 08--A fan who was suffered life-threatening injuries after she was struck in the head with a broken baseball bat during a game at Fenway Park last week is improving in the hospital, her family said.
The family of Tonya Carpenter said in a statement Monday that her condition has been upgraded from serious to fair.
"Tonya is responsive, and her condition has been upgraded from serious to fair," the statement read. "We would like to thank everyone for their continued support, especially the fans at Fenway Park, first responders, Boston EMS, Boston Police and her care team at Beth Israel Deaconess [Hospital]."
Carpenter, 44, was severely injured and suffered a significant amount of blood loss when she was hit in the head with a broken bat during the second inning of Friday's game between the Boston Red Sox and Oakland Athletics. The incident occurred after Oakland third baseman Brett Lawrie's bat shattered, sending the barrel into the crowd.
The game was delayed as medical workers treated Carpenter and wheeled her out of the stadium on a stretcher. David Estrada, a spokesman for the Boston Police Dept., described Carpenter's injuries at the time as life-threatening.
Carpenter was attending the game with her 8-year-old son and a friend.
The Red Sox, in a statement released Saturday, said, "All of us offer our prayers and our thoughts as we wish her a speedy recovery."
Times staff writer Ryan Parker contributed to this report.
