WEST MIAMI-DADE, FLA. (WSVN) - A survivor of the pedestrian bridge collapse near Florida International University told his story as he filed a lawsuit against those involved.
Richard Humble sat next to his attorney, Monday, when he announced his decision to sue FIGG Bridge Engineers, Munilla Construction Management and several other companies involved in the construction of the bridge.
“There’s not a single day that goes by that I don’t think about it,” Humble said.
While Humble continues to live his life, he is constantly reminded of his friend, Alexa Duran. The two were sitting in her car when the bridge came down on March 15, killing Duran and trapping Humble.
“She was like just the brightest light in my life. Always there for me whenever,” Humble said. “I heard it hit the top of the roof of the car, and I heard it buckling, and it kind of pushed me down and held me down for a little bit.”
Humble crawled to the back of the car and tried to escape through the trunk but wasn’t able to. That’s when he turned around and saw Alexa was still buckled in.
“I looked back at Alexa a couple of times and she wasn’t saying anything. I had her blood on me and I didn’t really know what to do. She just wasn’t moving,” he said.
Humble was eventually able to get out of the car once some people helped pry an opening. Cameras captured him as he reached for his phone and called his mother.
“‘Help! The bridge fell on us,'” he is heard saying.
His mother, Lourdes Humble said she felt helpless when she got the call. “All I can hear was sirens and Richie screaming and screaming. I couldn’t control him; he was frantic,” she said.
Humble and his attorney Stuart Grossman are doing what they believe they can do to prevent a catastrophic event like this from happening again.
“The public deserves to know, what is it about this process that when we go to build a bridge at a college, it kills people,” Grossman said.
Humble now struggles after the tragedy. He said he’s constantly in pain and has nightmares.
“I have to lean on people a lot because sometimes I just can’t handle it or myself,” he said. “Sometimes I just have a flashback of what happened and I feel super scared and panicked.”
Humble is currently seeking therapy.
“I just don’t know why you’d take a chance with something like that, especially like with workers on top of the bridge, with people underneath it,” he said. “It just doesn’t make sense to me.”
Humble said that any time he drives under a bridge, it brings back memories of that day.
“I don’t think anybody should fear for their life when going under something like that,” he said. “I don’t think anybody should lose a friend like that either.”
Humble said he also plans on suing FIU and the State of Florida.
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