MIRAMAR, FLA. (WSVN) - A 7-year-old boy has been released from the hospital more than two months after he was severely injured in a crash in Miramar that claimed the life of his pregnant mother.
Cameras showed Jacob Estrada at Memorial Regional Hospital on Wednesday as his doctor said goodbye.
“We’ll see you later, OK?” said the doctor as he gave a fist bump.
The child spent the last month and a half learning how to walk again.
Cellphone video captured the boy during his physical therapy.
Estrada was riding in a car with his mother, 30-year-old Cristina Hernandez, after she picked him up from school when a white car rear-ended them, Dec. 19.
Police said the driver, 17-year-old Cristhian Gonzalez, had no license and was driving under the influence of marijuana.
“As Gonzalez changed lanes from the inside lane to the outside lane to the intersection, he was traveling 113.1 mph, which calculates to like 166 feet per second,” said Miramar Police Officer David Robbins.
Hernandez was pronounced dead at the scene. She was five weeks pregnant at the time.
Gonzalez and his father are facing multiple charges.
Estrada was critically injured. Investigators said he suffered a brain injury, fractures and injuries to his liver, heart and kidneys.
“My son is fighting for his life because some kid and his family were irresponsible and decided to ruin our family,” said his father, Anthony Estrada.
Doctors gave the young patient a slim chance of survival. However, after a long recovery at the hospital, he is thriving.
Cellphone video showed Estrada using a walker, his left leg still in a cast.
Doctors, nurses and staff at Memorial Regional gave him a special sendoff on Wednesday. They were seen cheering him off as he drove down a hallway in a toy car.
While his body continues to heal, Estrada and his father will have some emotional wounds to heal as well.
“I tell him every night, ‘It’s OK. Mom’s with us, and she’s with you in your heart,’ and we pray for her every night,” said his father, “and he understands that. He knows that she’s in heaven, and she’s his angel now. He can’t wait to go home and back in our own bed. It’s a pretty exciting day for us.”
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