A woman from Argentina who was on vacation in Miami is out of the hospital after police say a driver hit her while she was on a scooter and ran away. NBC6’s Niko Clemmons reports
A woman from Argentina who was on vacation in Miami is out of the hospital after police say a driver hit her while she was on a scooter and ran away.
Gabriela Obregon doesn't remember being hit on March 10. She said she and her boyfriend were on a scooter when a driver hit them from behind.
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WATCH HEREThe driver of the car dragged the scooter several feet and stopped at Northeast 79th Street and 5th Avenue, investigators said.
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The driver, 21-year-old Armani Rodgers, and her passenger got out of the car and took off, police said. A witness pulled out his phone and started recording. In the video, Rodgers is heard saying she’s not leaving.
According to the arrest report, a few seconds later, Rodgers and her passenger returned and removed the license plate from the car before leaving again. The video the witness recorded appears to show Rodgers throw something at him before she ran away.
Obregon was on the ground, bleeding with a fractured skull. Her boyfriend had a few cuts and bruises. She said doctors weren't sure if she was going to make it.
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“The doctor told my brother that they didn't have hope I would live, because 1 to 10, the big problem in my head was 10,” Obregon said. “They tried to prepare my family.”
A couple of days later, the car's owner called Miami Police and told them Rodgers, who is her niece, took her car without permission and that she was the one driving that night, police said.
Rodgers turned herself in and was charged with leaving the scene of a crash causing serious bodily injury.
“That happened to me, but it could happen to other people, kids or family,” Obregon said. “It never crossed my head this would happen to me.”
Obregon had to have brain surgery; she can't hear out of one ear, and she has bruises all over her body, but she says she's feeling better.
“The doctor said I was super lucky,” Obregon said. “I woke up, I had memory, I can talk, walk.”
However now, she's facing another challenge. Obregon is from Argentina. She can't fly back home now because of her condition.
“The doctors don't know if it'll be three months, or six months, or a year,” Obregon said.
While she tries to navigate the next several months in South Florida, she's hoping for another miracle.
“I really want to come back to my country as soon as possible because I want to see my friends and family,” Obregon said.
Obregon’s parents flew into Miami from Argentina to be by her side. Right now, she's focused on healing and recovering but also trying to figure out when she can go back home. There is a GoFundMe for Obregon.
