Mother, son saved by good Samaritan send condolences to family of the man who gave his life
DALLAS (CBSNewsTexas.com) - For the first time since the deadly crash, we are hearing from the mother and son who were saved by a retired Marine who later died following a hit-and-run crash in Dallas.
As Graciela Leyva-Rodriguez recovers from her injuries in an area hospital, she's sending a special thank you to Donald Collins and his family.
"She's saying, her condolences to the family, she hopes that she may one day actually speak with his wife," said Alexandrea Prieto, a family friend who translated for Leyva-Rodriguez. "There is a language barrier so hopefully in the future to also meet his daughter, just to kind of get a feel of the family that actually helped save her life."
Leyva-Rodriguez wanted to speak about this and thought a video was the best way.
"Send my condolences to the family of Mr. Collins," Prieto said. "We're just extremely grateful that he was able to help Graciela and her son."
Deputies said the suspected drunk driver, Irma Nelly Martinez's vehicle struck Collins while he was stopped on Interstate 30 in Dallas to help a family stranded on the road.
Deputies said Collins shielded the family.
"He did something to prevent someone else getting hurt," Donald Collins' wife, Elizabeth Collins said. "Did it cost his life? Yes, but that's okay because he saved two."
Now Prieto said the two are in shock and upset about what happened and have a long road to recovery.
"Graciela has 12 rods in her arm, so she's cut up from here all the way down, with only a chance of maybe 50% of mobility," Prieto said. "She has open wounds in her back, broken leg, fractures on both."
Her son, 16-year-old Juan Carlos is also dealing with a lot of injuries and trauma.
"He has about 12 staples in his head, over thirty stitches on his foot, a broken foot, with fractures on both knees and both legs," Prieto said.
Prieto said despite remembering the graphic details of what happened and facing the financial costs or everything, they're thankful to see another day.
"She's about to be a grandma for the first time, so if it wasn't for Mr. Collins she wouldn't be able to see her first granddaughter be born," Prieto said.
The Dallas County Sheriff's Office is still looking for the driver or the red tow truck who hit their car and caused the initial crash. Anyone with information is asked to call deputies.
Collins leaves behind a 2-year-old daughter. Prieto said Graciela has a 1-year-old at home and hasn't figured out how she will be able to support her while going through all of this with their car being totaled and the hospital bills.
Both families have GoFundMe pages to raise money to help with expenses.
The funeral service for Donald Collins was held Monday.
