FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – Two hit-and-run crashes just minutes apart have left a man fighting for his life in a South Florida hospital.
The collisions happened at approximately 6 a.m. Sunday on Sunrise Boulevard near the entrance to the Florida Turnpike.
Recommended Videos
Jose Cruz, 35, is severely injured and currently in a coma.
His family wants answers and, most importantly, it wants Cruz back home.
"His children want him, they want him to wake up," said Jazmine Diaz, Cruz's partner.
Diaz said she and Cruz were driving home after he had picked her up from work.
She said they were sitting at a red light when they were rear-ended by a red van.
When Cruz got out to check the damage, another vehicle crashed into them.
"I felt so helpless," Diaz said, explaining that she called out for Cruz but got no answer.
"I looked out the window and saw his body on the (ground) and people helping him, and he wasn't moving," she said.
According to Diaz, the driver of the van initially stayed at the scene before abandoning the van. That driver got into another car with someone else and left.
The second car that crashed into Cruz and his vehicle also drove off.
"Both of the drivers left," Diaz said. "How could you leave somebody?"
Cruz suffered a broken leg, shattered ankle, fractured arm, eight broken ribs and a punctured lung.
Doctors also told family members that Cruz suffered an injury to his head.
"His brain injury, that's what the doctors are most concerned about," Diaz said.
The family moved to South Florida from Connecticut about a year ago.
Cruz began working at a new job last month but his health insurance has not kicked in yet.
Diaz and the couple's three children are praying Cruz will be OK.
"We just want him here," she said.
A GoFundMe page was set up to help the family with any medical expenses.
Police are continuing to investigate and anyone with information is urged to contact Broward Crime Stoppers at 954-493-TIPS (8477).