One week after suffering a serious fall in Naples, Italy, Notre Dame junior Eric Morin's condition has improved, University spokesman Dennis Brown said Sunday.
Morin suffered a fractured skull and bleeding in the brain March 19 after a "serious accident" while studying architecture sites in Naples as part of a multiple-city class trip through the School of Architecture Rome Studies Program.
"Eric's condition has significantly improved, and, while he no longer is in intensive care, his condition is serious," Brown said in an e-mail. He declined to provide information on the extent of Morin's injuries or the specifics of the accident that caused them.
Morin remained hospitalized in Naples Sunday. His parents flew to Naples last Monday from their hometown of Edina, Minn. to be with him.
"His family is grateful for the assistance and prayers offered on his behalf," Brown said. "They particularly appreciate the assistance offered by [architecture professor and director of the Rome Studies Program] Samir Younes."
Junior Cailin Shannon, who is studying in Rome with Morin, said she became good friends with him during the last several months. She described Morin as "amazingly tough."
"The [architecture] school has been really great at keeping the other architecture students updated continually on Eric's condition - and it seems that each time doctors project a new timeline for his pace of recovery, he beats their predictions by leaps and bounds," Shannon said in an e-mail.
Shannon said the day after Morin's accident architecture students stopped mid-lecture in a Sicilian cathedral to pray for their classmate.
"A few hours later, we got word that his condition was turning for the better," she said. "And of course, that is the best remedy we can ask for of the Notre Dame family - just to keep Eric in your prayers."
Morin is a former resident of Siegfried Hall, where a mass was held for his recovery March 20. His former roommate, junior Andy Crutchfield, has been updated on Morin's condition through Siegfried rector Father John Conley.
"From what they're telling me everything's going to be perfectly fine," Crutchfield said March 23. "I'm relieved and just ... looking forward to hearing from him."
Brown said all architecture students in the Rome program were on the trip to Naples, but Morin was the only student injured.
