A man who moved to South Florida just a few years ago is fighting to stay alive after he was in a serious accident Sunday morning in Miami.
Alex Martinez, the owner of On The Run Vegan, said when he's not around, his head cook Angello de Santis Nobman is the go-to guy.
“He's been with me since day one,” Martinez said. “He's like a brother, he's not just an employee he's a brother.”
De Santis Nobman was on his motorcycle Sunday morning when he got in a crash with an SUV at Southwest 8th Avenue and 7th Street in Miami.
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Martinez said de Santis Nobman is currently in a coma in the hospital.
De Santis Nobman moved to Miami from Venezuela several years ago and has no family in South Florida.
“He came here and he works and he supports his family in Venezuela,” Martinez said. “We're the only family he has.”
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De Santis Nobman’s mother and 10-year-old currently live in Venezuela. She spoke with NBC6 via Zoom Wednesday.
"They set up the phone with video call so I could talk to him and of course, I told him I love him, that he's going to get out the hospital, that we'll be together soon and his family is waiting for him, that he's not alone, that he's going to see that the almighty God is healing and protecting him,” Massiel Lita Nobman De De Santis said.
She's had to authorize other people to fill out paperwork at the hospital since she's not there. However, she's grateful for her son's friends in South Florida.
"I have to go because he's my son, I have to take care of him 24 hours a day," she said. "He's alone, he doesn't have a partner, he's not married. He has a child, she's with me. She's a minor, I'm her mother."
Martinez is now trying to raise money to bring De Santis Nobman’s mother and daughter to South Florida to be by his side. He said he knows his friend would do the same for him.
“He's a fighter, he's been fighting all of his life and I don't expect anything less,” Martinez said.
It’s not known who was at fault for the crash. Miami Police said the crash report is not available right now.
Martinez set up a GoFundMe to help the family.
