PEMBROKE PINES, Fla. – Jay Santana, a Navy veteran and software engineer, barely had the energy to speak from his hospital bed.
"I am in so much pain," Santana said.
He is the father of 9-year-old twins, Hailey and Kailey and grateful that his girls still have their father.
Santana survived a horrific crash just after 4 p.m. Monday on University Drive in Pembroke Pines.
Surveillance video showed the moment he collided with a white van that was making a left turn onto Johnson Street.
"I just remember waking up after surgery."
The front of the car was completely gone.
Santana’s friends who told Local 10 that a first responder relayed the information that a good Samaritan possibly saved his life by applying pressure to a wound to keep him from bleeding to death.
With so many injuries, he said his road to recovery is long, but he is grateful to be alive.
“In times like this, when people are afraid to come into contact with other people due to COVID-19, her courage saving my life. I am forever thankful.”
Surveillance video did show some people walking toward and around the car to help, but the view is from such a distance that the faces of the people are indistinguishable.
According to Pembroke Pines officers on the scene, the good Samaritan was gone before they arrived and police have no information on the person.
Pembroke Pines police also stated: “One driver was injured in the crash, and it seems as if speed was a factor.” The crash is still under investigation.
So, from Santana’s hospital bed, he is on a mission: To find and thank the person he’s heard may have saved his life.
“That there are some people willing to put their life on the risk to save another person’s life. I think that speaks to all of humanity.”
Friends have set up a go fund me page to help with Santana’s mounting hospital bills. Go to the Road to Recovery page set up for Jay Santana here.