TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — What was supposed to be a fun Fourth of July weekend in Rocky Point turned into a tragedy for a Tucson family, after a deadly car crash.
Now, they find themselves buried in medical bills.
Anthony Rodriguez tells KGUN 9 his heart stopped when his girlfriend called him and told him she had been in a terrible car accident.
“We were supposed to have a good 4th of July and take our son to the beach... and just enjoy being a family and.. I just can’t believe everything that happened this weekend,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez, in tears, reflected on his reality. He was at an Airbnb the night before the 4th when his girlfriend, Irma Alire, called him crying.
“She told me she was in a bad accident and that she needed me,” he added.
Rodriguez immediately went to the scene of the crash.
“Her mom was on the other side of the car, and she was on the floor, laying on her back in the sand and my son wasn’t there. The ambulance already took him. I couldn’t even think. I didn't even know if he was alive or if he was dead,” he told KGUN 9.
Then, when he got to the hospital, his girlfriend and his son’s grandma, Matilde Alire, were put in beds side by side.
His son’s nana went into cardiac arrest and didn’t make it. His son, Adreal Mateo Rodriguez, was airlifted to Diamond Children’s Medical Center after being ejected from his car seat (and out of the car).
“He broke his humerus completely in half on his right arm, fractured his skull, and had internal bleeding,” said Rodriguez.
Rodriguez says his son is doing well, and was discharged Wednesday afternoon.
He says it’s a miracle because he had to borrow money in order to get his son back to the United States for treatment.
RELATED: Driving to Puerto Peñasco, 1 year into 'safety corridor' project
“When you go to the hospital there, they won't release you until they pay the bill there. So my son’s bill was $1,400. If we didn't have it he probably would have been stuck there and probably wouldn’t have survived,” he explained about Mexico’s hospital policy.
They also had to pay thousands to cover his girlfriend and her mom’s hospital bill, before Rodriguez’s girlfriend was released.
“So we need to help pay it back, and it came to fifteen grand,” Rodriguez told KGUN9.
Now, their first priority is to nurse baby Adreal back to health.
“He always cries for his nana. They had a very close relationship,” said the baby’s dad.
