A 9-year-old boy is fighting for his life in the hospital after he and his mother were run over by an SUV last week in Hialeah.
Family and friends say Digna Antonio and her son Navil Diaz were on their way to buy pizza Feb. 8 when they were hit.
Florida Highway Patrol troopers said the driver of a black Volkswagen SUV was on Ludlum Road and turning onto Northwest 186th Street when the driver hit the mom and the child, who was traveling on a non-motorized scooter.
The driver stayed at the scene. Both Antonio and Diaz were rushed to Ryder Trauma Center.
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“I feel bad,” said Leonardo Diaz, the boy's father. “She’s a good mom and he was badly injured. He lost his teeth. His lung and kidney were affected. He comes and goes. He’s not doing well.”
Leonardo Diaz has two other children with Antonio. He said his ex-wife has already had five surgeries and his son had a major one Friday.
He described his son as a typical 9-year-old and a happy kid who loves video games. His son's pain is now his pain.
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“(He’s) a good kid, a normal kid,” Leonardo Diaz said. “Now, he just had surgery. There was some fluid coming out of his brain. His lung could get infected and he could die.”
The family is praying for a miracle, knowing that this mother and son have a long road ahead.
"Everybody’s been on their toes and waiting for results,” family friend Sebastian Arguello said. "It's felt like months but it's been a couple days, so it’s been very hard."
Leonardo Diaz said he's not angry.
“That could happen to anyone that’s driving," he said. "I would think he’s also having a bad time.”
The family is thankful they came out of the ICU, but they are still going through a lot of surgeries.
"There's mixed feelings but at the end of the day it's a son and wife, there's going to be some anger, he wasn't paying attention," Arguello said. "We all make mistakes, but this mistake was big."
FHP is still investigating and so far, no charges have been filed. The family started a GoFundMe to help with medical bills.
