MIAMI BEACH, Fla. – A wife is praying for a miracle after her husband was left in a medically-induced coma following a hit-and-run accident in Miami Beach that left him nearly dead.
According to police, last Wednesday, Royale “RJ” Otero was driving along the Julia Tuttle Causeway when he was hit by a black SUV. The driver of the SUV then took off on foot and has not been caught.
Otero, who managed a kosher cafe called Tasti Cafe on Miami Beach for three years, Is now in a medically-induced coma fighting for his life — and his wife, Natalie, is fighting alongside him.
Alvarez returned to the restaurant for the first time, Thursday, where she was greeted by hugs, tears, and a local rabbi with a donation.
Alvarez is so devoted to her husband, she set up an iPad in his hospital room where she talks to him, even though he can’t respond.
“Babe, I hope you can hear me. We are missing you like crazy. We need you to wake up,” Alvarez says to her husband.
“Your friends miss you,” she continues. “Everyone wants you to come home.”
“You’re the only one who can give us information on the person who did this to you. We need you to come back,” she says.
Otero became a fixture in the 41st Street community on Miami Beach.
“You walk in, he knows your name, he knows your order,” says Michelle Saka who knows Otero. “He was just part of the sunshine in your day.”
On Thursday, while speaking with Local 10′s Rosh Lowe, a miracle happened.
“Babe, can you blink so you can show me that you can hear me, please?” she asks.
“He’s moving his feet,” says a man in the hospital room over the phone to Alvarez.
“Oh my God, that makes me so happy,” she says.
Now, she just doesn’t understand who would leave her beloved husband to die on the road.
Otero remains in the hospital. The investigation is ongoing.
The family has a GoFundMe page set up. Click here.