MMA Fighter Sam Romero Seeks Answers After Mystery Plunge From San Jose Highway Overpass
SAN JOSE (KPIX 5) -- Sam Romero's body -- broken back, fractured pelvis, shattered elbow and collapsed lung -- is a road map to trauma his mind will not yet let him remember.
"At night sometimes I'll just stay up and think about everything that's happened," Romero said from his wheelchair at Valley Medical Center's Rehabilitation Center in San Jose.
Two weeks ago, a passerby noticed the 23-year-old mixed martial arts fighter floating in the Guadalupe River in downtown San Jose and called 911. Paramedics rushed Romero to the hospital where his mother says doctors had to first treat a serious case of hypothermia before they could begin to address his long list of injuries.
"He looked like he was already dead. He was cold. He was white," said Nicole Romero. "And the only reason I knew he was still alive was that they had the monitors on and I could see his heart beating."
But as dire at the situation looked then, Nicole Romero knew her son came from a long line of professional fighters, stretching all the way to his great-grandfather. And Sam simply wasn't ready to throw in the towel.
In the past two weeks, he's survived several surgeries, weaned himself off a breathing tube and has even taken his first, faltering steps towards eventually leaving his wheelchair behind.
"We did some walking a little bit. So, I walked. It's super hard," Romero said. "But being able to stand up, being able to walk, I'm so happy. It brings a smile to my face."
But while his strength is returning, Romero says so far his memories of that fateful night have not. Investigators believe Romero may have fallen or pushed from the Highway 87 overpass and plummeted into the river below. The California Highway Patrol is the lead investigative agency looking into what might have happened.
Romero narrowly lost a close fight Saturday March 23. He says the last thing he remembers is going out with friends for dinner and drinks the following evening. He was found floating in the river the next morning. And even though he had his wallet, investigators say the proceeds from that Saturday night fight were mysteriously missing.
Romero's family says they singular focus at the moment is his recovery.
"I have my son. This is my life. That's all I care about," Nicole Romero said, tearing up in a room at the rehab center.
"It's going to be a long, long road of just recovering and making sure I'm back to normal," said Sam Romero. "But I definitely see myself getting back in the Octagon."
