Giants fan Bryan Stow still battling long-term effects 12 years after Dodger Stadium attack

SCOTTS VALLEY, Calif. (KABC) -- It's been more than 12 years since the brutal beating of San Francisco Giants fan Bryan Stow in the parking lot of Dodger Stadium.

Stow suffered brain damage - injuries he will likely never recover from.

Eyewitness News sat down with Stow to see how he's doing and to get his thoughts on the two men who nearly killed him.

Stow said his attackers took away his life.

"I was a healthy paramedic. Loved my job, loved my family and boom - my life changed like that," Stow said in an interview.

Today, Stow lives outside Santa Cruz with his parents who care for him. Now 54 years old, he walks steadily with a cane and works to build his strength with his son Tyler at a gym in Scotts Valley.

Stow was attacked in 2011 in one of the most well-known acts of fan violence in sports.

Stow traveled from Northern California and was with his friends at Opening Day at Dodger Stadium to see the Dodgers square off against the Giants.

After the game, he was blindsided in the parking lot by two men who were wearing Dodgers jerseys.

"They picked us because we were all wearing Giants shirts or jerseys, and I turned around late and I caught the brunt of it," Stow recalled.

Punched and kicked, Stow's skull was fractured. He barely survived.

His friend tried shielding him from the attackers.

"Corey, who dove on me to protect me, goes 'Bryan, I saw your brain.' My skull was split open that much that he saw my brain," Stow said.

He spent nine months in a coma, and part of his skull had to be removed. He had to re-learn how to walk, talk and write. Now more than a dozen years later, it's been a remarkable recovery.

But it's a process that may never end.

"I want to be able to walk without a device, crutches or a cane. I want to be healthy," Stow said. "It's not that much to ask."

The two men who went to prison for the brutal beating - Louie Sanchez and Marvin Norwood - are now free. They're not far from Stow's mind. He said he thinks about them every single day.

"One of the guys got four years in prison, the other guy got eight years in prison," he said. "I had five cardiac arrests that night in the hospital. And that's all they got."

Stow's family sued the Dodgers, citing poor security in the parking lots. They were left with just over $5 million to take care of Stow.

His family has been there the whole way caring for his every need.

Surprisingly, even though he was nearly killed, Stow said he would go back to Dodger Stadium for another Dodgers-Giants game.

"I would wear the same jersey and still go to the game," he said. "Just have a heads up as to what's going on."

ABC7 revisits the attack on Bryan Stow at Dodger Stadium in a special documentary, "True Crime: Beaten at the Ballpark." Don't miss the special on Sept. 9 at 10:30 p.m. on ABC7 or wherever you stream.