South Florida content creator raises wheelchair awareness after hit-and-run
MIAMI - Carolina Florez, known to her followers as "Caro the Tour Guide," is a popular content creator and owner of a South Florida tour company, but what started as a regular Thursday for Florez took a shocking turn when she became the victim of a hit-and-run incident in Miami.
Now, Florez is using her platform to share her recovery journey and raise awareness about the challenges faced by people using wheelchairs in the city.
"It was really shocking," said Florez.
Florez said she was riding her scooter near SW 8th Street and SW 1st Avenue on Thursday around 6 p.m. when she was hit and thrown into the street by the driver of a white Porsche.
"I had to brake really suddenly, and really, not much impact was made with the car, but it was still enough impact to cause me to fly off," said Florez.
As Florez lay on the ground in shock, she said the following occurred.
"The driver just literally looked at me, and just goes 'sorry' - he mouthed 'sorry' and then leaves," said Florez.
Bystanders helped Florez after the incident.
She ended up spraining both ankles and sustained bruises all over her body.
Now, she's using a wheelchair to get around.
"For the first two days, I was crawling around, using a skateboard to get around my apartment," said Florez.
Since the crash, Florez has been documenting what it's been like needing a wheelchair to get around and sharing it with her more than 33,000 followers on Instagram.
Florez said that using a wheelchair as she recovers has been an eye-opening experience.
"We should all get in a wheelchair, whether we're incapacitated or not, and see how easy it is to get around the city, just to bring awareness about how inaccessible the city has been made for wheelchair-bound people," said Florez.
She hopes the city invests in more safety measures and protected lanes for pedestrians and those using bikes and scooters throughout Miami, especially in Brickell.
"We just don't have the safe and equitable urban design in our city that a world-class city should have," said Florez.
We reached out to the City of Miami Police Department for more information about the case, including whether a suspect has been identified, and we are still waiting to get those details.