Family Of Construction Worker Hurt In Bridge Collapse Praying For Christmas Miracle
CORONA (CBSLA.com) — Doctors told Ann Boyd to prepare for the worst when her only son was injured on the job.
Instead, Boyd prayed for the best.
"I told the doctor he's not God, so only God can say that," said Boyd. "So we prayed and I asked everybody to pray for my son."
Jarell Boyd was working on the 91 Freeway bridge when it collapsed last month in Corona and his head was injured.
It now seems Boyd's Christmas miracle is here a month early.
"He said, "Mrs. Boyd, the swelling all around your son's brain is going down and the bleeding has stopped'," she said. "That was the best news I ever heard in my life."
Jarell is awake, using his eyes and hands to communicate because he can't talk yet.
"He put his hands out and I ask, 'If you know who I am, squeeze my hand' and he does," said Boyd.
Of the eight others injured, only Boyd and another man who reportedly lost an eye are still hospitalized.
"Every inch of that bridge that has been taken down has been photographed, some parts sent all over the country to be analyzed," said Riverside County transportation spokesman John Standiford.
Standiford says the bridge collapsed as it was being lowered, but exactly how that happened is still being investigated.
"In rebuilding the bridge, a different construction method is being used," said Standiford.
Boyd's mother won't say if her family is filing a lawsuit; right now, she's just worried about getting her only son home for the holidays.
"Maybe Christmas...if he's home, I will prepare him the biggest meal," she said. "I want him to eat."
