FORT LAUDERDALE, FLA. (WSVN) - The niece of a woman who lost both her legs when she was struck by a car while waiting at a bus stop in Fort Lauderdale is speaking out and asking for the community’s help.
Bertha Jones, 67, was one of two women hospitalized when a car crashed into a bus stop on West Broward Boulevard and 15th Avenue, Wednesday.
“Two cars kind of collided, they were hit by a car,” Uchechi Cooper, Jones’ niece, said over the phone.
“I heard a crash. We heard screaming,” said witness Rosie Lazarino.
Rescue crews transported both victims to Broward Health Medical Center.
“Basically, they’re both in critical condition, that her legs were almost severed, my aunt’s, and they had to amputate at the hospital,” said Cooper.
“Both of her legs were severed to the point that they were almost completely detached from her body,” Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue Chief Stephen Gollan said following the crash.
Cooper said her aunt doesn’t normally take the bus.
“Her car recently broke down, so she doesn’t need to ride the bus,” she said.
Jones, 67, remains on a ventilator. She is communicating with hospital staff and is said to know how she became injured, according to her family.
“She’s loving. She’s kind. She’s caring,” Cooper said. “She would give you the shirt off her back. She’s just one of those people you meet, and she leaves an imprint in your heart.”
The victim lives in South Florida by herself. The rest of her family is in New York.
“That’s just the hard part: knowing that she’s alone right now,” she said.
Cooper said she and other family members are preparing to come down to South Florida to be with their loved one, and she realizes it will not be a short stay.
“It’s really life changing, and sometimes you don’t realize, when other people go through things, you don’t realize how much of an impact it is on a family until you do,” Cooper said.
Jones has since gone through one surgery, and her family said she is scheduled to go through another surgery.
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