Tracy Morgan is grateful to be able to celebrate.

More than a decade after the Saturday Night Live alum was severely injured in a car accident, he expressed how much it means to be surrounded by his comedy family to celebrate the legendary sketch series with SNL: The Anniversary Special. (See all the stars on the red carpet here.)

“I’m just thanking the Lord that I’m a part of this,” he told Matt Rogers inside 30 Rockefeller Center after walking NBC’s red carpet Feb. 16, “that I survived that accident and I’m alive to be here for this.”

In June 2014, the 30 Rock alum suffered a severe brain injury as well as several broken bones after a six-car pile-up in New Jersey, which included a Walmart tractor trailer colliding with the limo the Tracy was riding in. The accident, which killed the comedian’s friend James McNair, left Tracy hospitalized for weeks and included a lengthy recovery.  

Indeed, Tracy—who was a cast member on SNL from 1996 to 2003—was absent from the 40th anniversary special more than six month later, through 30 Rock costars Tina Fey and Alec Baldwin shared a heartfelt tribute during the telecast.