LSU sophomore Brian Murphy has returned home after being struck by a car in South Africa during a family trip to the World Cup.A drunk driver struck Brian and his sisters Nicole and Kellie while they were walking on the sidewalk. Kellie, an LSU junior, received a minor concussion while Nicole died instantly.Brian has been transported to a hospital in Lafayette. He can’t speak yet, but has shown signs of improvement by moving his fingers. Lindsey Dupuis, a family friend, said she gets updates from family friend Jana Godshall, both of whom live in Los Angeles at the moment.Godshall and Dupuis got a group together to plan one of the most recent benefits for the family, held at Crown Bar in Los Angeles.”One of our friends’ boyfriend owns the bar, which is a place we always go to,” Dupuis said. “They donated the place for the night.”Dupuis, who is in the fashion business, said the benefit charged money at the door to get in the bar, and auctioned off purses and raffle tickets.The benefit raised $7,000 altogether for the family’s fund, which is set up at Home Bank.The family has received help from all over the country. Darren Guidry, the chief lending officer for Home Bank, said contributions to the fund have been going extremely well. “The support has been overwhelming,” Guidry said.Guidry said the number of people calling about the Murphys hasn’t changed since the fund opened. “The amount of deposits daily has been consistent from day one to now,” Guidry said. “There have been calls from literally all over the country.”Guidry said there have been many calls from Tampa, where Nicole played soccer, but curiously, a lot of calls have also come from New York, which Guidry said he had no explanation for.The news of the family’s trouble has gone viral, with everyone from ESPN to John Mayer reposting information about the support fund.”I think [Mayer] reads a blog in New York, which is where he probably heard about it,” Dupois said. “Hopefully he’s gotten a lot of feedback from L.A.”Dupois said she and her friends have also sent information out to clients in Los Angeles. No new fundraisers are planned in Los Angeles in the near future.”We haven’t really talked about doing anything else,” Dupois said. “We’re still passing out cards with the information, and hopefully people will continue to spread the word.”Lafayette has also been helping out and will hold its newest fundraiser on July 20. Sammy Kershaw, Jamie Bergeron, River Road band, Jaren Lane and Geno Delafose will play a concert at Parc International in downtown Lafayette. Angie Doyle, director of marketing for TMC Foods, said the concert came together because of concerned citizens wanting to help. TMC Foods is a Popeyes franchisee that has been handling the logistics and ticket sales.”There was a group of individuals, family friends and people in our organization that came together and wanted to do something to help with their costs, which are rising,” Doyle said. “We called up Sammy Kershaw, and he was gracious enough to donate his time and energy to the cause.”Nicole Murphy’s funeral will be held Friday at 2 p.m. at Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist in Lafayette.
 
 
 
—-Contact Katherine Terrell at [email protected]