HIALEAH, FLA. (WSVN) - An intense rescue played out in front of dozens of people in the parking lot of a shopping plaza in Hialeah after an SUV fell on an elderly man, leaving him trapped underneath.
Hialeah Police and Fire Rescue units responded to the parking lot of Lago Plaza near the intersection of West 28th Avenue and 68th Street, shortly after 5 p.m., Saturday.
Witnesses described a chaotic scene.
“People were kind of screaming and running around,” said Millen Cruz, who works in the area.
Officials said crews responded to a call of a possible pedestrian hit, but they discovered the situation was more complicated.
“It turns out that the patient was underneath the vehicle,” said Hialeah Fire Division Chief David Rodriguez.
First responders immediately began to work to lift the SUV and stabilize it.
“The person was awake and alert, but he did sustain a pretty bad head injury,” said Rodriguez.
“I was freaked out. Everybody was scared and waiting,” said Cruz.
Fortunately, crews were able to pull the 82-year-old victim from underneath the vehicle.
“We were able to keep contact with him the whole time, and we were able to lift the car, get the patient out,” said Rodriguez.
Cellphone video showed the moment crews lifted the man up and placed him on a stretcher.
The process took about 15 minutes from start to finish.
“I don’t think anybody drove over him, but we don’t know that,” said Cruz. “But there wasn’t a driver. It was just him and the car.”
“How he ended up underneath his car is the part that I guess the police department investigates to try to find out exactly what happened, but we don’t know,” said Rodriguez.
“I don’t think nobody really knows what happened,” said Cruz.
Paramedics airlifted the victim to Ryder Trauma Center in unknown condition.
Rescuers said it’s a good sign the victim was alert during the rescue, but with trauma, it’s difficult to predict an outcome.
“That’s why you’ve got to work fast, and you’ve got to get them to the appropriate facility quickly, so he can be further assessed to prevent anything worse from happening,” said Rodriguez.
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