Veteran Bay Area activist Tristan Anderson remains in stable condition today and is gradually improving after being critically injured Friday evening during a protest against the building of a separation barrier in the Palestinian village of Naalin on the West Bank, according to his girlfriend.
The 38-year-old Oakland resident, who underwent surgery Friday evening to have part of his frontal lobe removed at Tel Hashomer hospital in Tel Aviv, has both good and bad days, his girlfriend Gabrielle Silverman said today in a telephone interview.
"He's making small incremental improvements day by day but it's still a very scary situation here," Silverman said. "And it's still unclear to what extent there will be permanent damage to his brain."
Silverman said that at some point Anderson, who also sustained major trauma to his right eye, would need to undergo reconstructive surgery.
Silverman said that she and Anderson's parents, who have arrived this week from the U.S., are most concerned about Anderson's brain and his life.
"We are here with him and we support him and love him," Silverman said. "We spend a lot of time with him, his mother holding one hand, I hold his other hand and we talk to him. People are in the hospital gathering here all the time, bringing food and best wishes and we're making it through day by day.
