Tow truck driver 'blessed' to be alive after being hit by a car on Loop 101
PHOENIX - Ramon Garcia's life flashed before his eyes on April 18. That's when the AAA tow truck driver was rushed to the hospital after being struck by a car on Loop 101 while trying to load a vehicle onto his flatbed.
"I just went numb. I couldn't feel my legs. I didn't know what to expect.," his wife Yolanda Garcia told FOX 10. "I got the call from the paramedics. Even showing up to the hospital, the paramedics said, ‘we don’t know how he is alive.'"
Ramon said he could hear the AAA member screaming for him to watch out for an incoming car near Loop 101 and 27th Avenue, but it was too late. A distracted driver crashed into the left side of his body.
"I was scared and as I kind of recuperated a little bit, I did get angry," Garcia said. "I'm not going to lie because I saw my leg and said, ‘I’m done,' you know? I thought it was over for me."
Garcia, a tow truck driver for 27 years, managed to pull his body onto the bed of his tow truck when he realized his left leg suffered the most damage.
At the hospital, Garcia discovered he had six broken bones from his knee to his foot.
He went into surgery that night.
"(We're) beyond blessed that it's just his leg," Yolanda said.
Garcia has a message for distracted drivers:
"We have all our flashing lights, everything, you know, at the end of the day we all want to get home," Garcia said.
What are the next steps in Garcia's recovery?
It is going to be a long road ahead for Garcia. His days going forward will be filled with appointments and therapy.
He is forced to put a pause on the job that has supported his family for the last 27 years.
"I'm beyond blessed to be here," Garcia said.
