Parents Of Queens Hit-And-Run Victim Trying To Get Emergency Visas To Visit Critically Injured Son, Sister Tells CBS2
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- The sister of a Queens man is praying for a miracle after her brother was critically injured in a hit-and-run last week in East Elmhurst.
Her parents are stuck in Mexico and are pleading with elected officials for a emergency visa to fly to New York, CBS2 Natalie Duddridge reported Monday.
Natalie Perez is exhausted and heartbroken. She's been at her brother's side at Bellevue Hospital since he suffered severe head trauma when a car slammed into him.
"The police called me and told me that my brother had an accident. I told him, 'Was it a joke?' and he said, 'No, he was hit by a car,'" Perez told Duddridge
Surveillance video shows Margarito Perez, 21, and two friends in a crosswalk at Astoria Boulevard and 98th Street just after 9 p.m. on June 30.
Police said they had the right of way when a silver SUV ran a red light.
His friends got out of the way in the nick of time, one jumped forward and the other jumped back, but Margarito was stuck in the middle.
Perez said doctors told her her brother might not make it.
"They say also that I have to think of my brother, what he would want for his life. If you want to be in these tubes. Now he's suffering or he want to go," she said.
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The siblings are U.S. citizens who were working in construction and as a cashier to send money back to their parents in Puebla, Mexico.
The only support Perez has other than her brother is her boyfriend and his mother.
Her parents are struggling to get emergency passports to see their son.
"The consulate in Mexico, they say they cannot give it to them," Perez said. "Have mercy on us."
Police said they were able to track down the silver 2005 BMW SUV involved in the hit-and-run. They said it was abandoned and unregistered.
Police are still looking for the driver.
Perez said he forgives whoever did this.
"I'm not mad at him," she said.
She believes her brother's life is in God's hands now.