'She Changed My Life': Denver Hit-And-Run Survivor Thanks Suspect
DENVER (CBS4) – One year after he almost died during a hit-and-run collision, David Montoya is thanking the woman who nearly took his life. Ginger Montoya, who is not related to David, illegally turned in front of David in August of 2019, causing him to crash his scooter in to the side of her car. She left him lying in the road until witnesses came to his rescue, and she drove away.
David said, while the pain of the recovery has been challenging, ultimately he believes Ginger gave him a second chance at a better life.
"Apparently it wasn't my time yet," David told CBS4's Dillon Thomas. "I'm living very, very happy."
David said he does not remember the night of the crash on West Colfax Avenue, but he has seen the surveillance video of the crash many times.
"I was riding on a scooter, and a lady with my same last name basically killed me," David said.
At the time, David was rushed to the hospital where he nearly lost his life. He stayed in the ICU at the hospital for months.
"He was on life support. It was hard, it was very hard to walk through that," said Sabrina Archuleta, David's fiancé.
Among many broken bones and head trauma, David also experienced collapsed lungs.
"All the way up to my waist is a metal bar," David said. "My ear was hanging off, and they had to sew it back together," David said.
"After they did David's surgery, he spent a month-and-a-half in a respite bed," Archuleta said.
The couple experienced a period of homelessness shortly after David was released from the hospital. Thanks to support from friends, church family and assisted living both were able to get back on their feet, both literally and figuratively.
"It was bad at first. But, it changed my life inside to out to better be in God's focus," David said. "(Before the crash I was) doing drugs, and stuff and drinking a lot. And I don't do none of that now."
While many could, rightfully, find it difficult to forgive Ginger Montoya and her actions, David said he has come to do just that.
"My message to her would be, 'Thank you.' She changed my life," David said. "I'm not mad at her at all, I hope she does better with her life."
Both David Montoya, and Archuleta, said they hoped Ginger Montoya would repent of her wrongdoing and find faith. They say she was recently sentenced to three years of probation, plus fees. The couple was content with the sentence, saying jail time would tear apart Ginger's family as much as the crash did David's.
"God's got a plan for everybody, and we are just thankful He is taking care of us, and we hope He is taking care of her too," Archuleta said.
Archuleta also wanted to thank, and possibly meet, whoever witnessed the crash and stayed by her fiancé's side until there was care.
