INDExtra

Murphy family fund set up at Home Bank

by Leslie Turk

A fund has been set up by friends of Lafayette's Murphy family at Home Bank. Donations will help defray the cost of bringing home the body of 24-year-old Nicole Murphy, who died tragically June 15 in South Africa.

A fund has been set up by friends of Lafayette's Murphy family at Home Bank. Donations will help defray the cost of bringing home the body of 24-year-old Nicole Murphy, who died tragically June 15 in South Africa while vacationing with her father and siblings for the World Cup.

The daughter of Dr. Danny and Charlene Murphy, Nicole and two of her younger siblings, Brian and Kellie, were hit by a car while walking back to their hotel in Cape Town; Brian, a 2009 STM grad now attending LSU, remains in critical condition in a medically induced coma. Once his condition is stable, the family will transport him to the U.S., an estimated $300,000 expense not covered by insurance, according to Cheryl Riche, Charlene Murphy's sister.

The car's driver fled the scene but was later apprehended.

Donations can be made at any location of Home Bank or mailed to P.O. Box 81459, Lafayette, La., 70598. The account number is 2057873802. Make checks payable to "Murphy Family Support Fund."

An STM alumna, Nicole Murphy attended the University of Tampa from 2004 to 2008 and was an all-conference and all-region defender on UT's 2007 national championship team. She had just completed her second year of medical school at LSU in New Orleans.