When Matthew Theisz says it’s difficult it talk about what happened to him late one night a few weeks ago, there’s more to the story.
Theisz struggles to speak, frustrated because he isn’t able to think of the right words.
He said he was viciously kicked in the head by an MBTA bus driver, who has now been charged with assault and battery and fired from his job.
Pictures of his injuries only show part of the damage he suffered to his head. The photos can’t show what happened inside his skull, where he suffered a brain hemorrhage.
The 43-year-old college professor has a master’s degree in geoscience. He said his has been full of learning and teaching; both of which Theisz said he can’t do anymore.
“It’s terrible to lose the ability to talk properly and think properly,” Theisz said in slow and deliberate words. “I would never wish this on anybody. All you have is your brain, you know?”
Theisz told police on the night of March 3 he missed his stop on the MBTA bus to Lynn.
When he got to Central Square, Theisz said he asked MBTA bus driver Derek Smith for directions to Revere.
Both men have different accounts of what happened next.
MBTA Police call the bus driver’s account “vague and inconsistent”.
Theisz has a hard time remembering the details, but his lawyer said Theisz was beaten within an inch of his life outside the bus.
This wasn’t the first time T driver Derek Smith was involved in a violent altercation.
Two years ago Smith was caught on camera assaulting another passenger.
In that incident the passenger was charged and convicted. That case is now being appealed.
Theisz says Smith should never have been driving a bus.
“You shouldn’t have to worry about getting attacked by someone working for the MBTA,” he said.
We reached out to the driver, Derek Smith through his attorney.
He said his client has pleaded not guilty and is due back in court next month.
Theisz is planning on filing suit against the T and knows he has a long road to recovery.
“I feel like different person, completely,” Theisz said. “I’m an intellectual person. To take that away from me? I feel like a different person.”