SAN DIEGO (KGTV) -- There is road rash on his forehead and a smile on his face. "Just hangin' in there, man."
Julio Vazquez is in a hospital bed at U.C.S.D. Medical Center in Hillcrest, his broken leg in a cast from above the knee to his toes. "The pain I have is in my right leg. Once I move it, it's a crazy pain, really bad. My right rib, one is broken and when I raise my voice, it hurts really bad."
It was Sunday night about midnight in Ocean Beach. He had pulled over to assist a stranded couple on the shoulder of Sunset Cliffs Blvd. The Ocean Beach man was trying to help start their white Lexus when another car slammed into them. The impact peeled back the door of the Lexus and propelled Julio into the air, over his own car, and into the ditch.
Paramedics were soon on-scene; as his wife and two young children watched.
Vazquez was doing a good deed; and paying a price for it. "Stuff happens. Doesn't make me feel bad. It's just something I do when I see somebody needs help."
Now he needs help; could be off work for several months and people are responding. A GoFundMe page was set up to help offset costs; asking $15,000. "It feels great! Never thought so many people were gonna be helping me: people texting, social media, something surprising."
As for the driver who took off, he said, "If I was in his position, I'd go to the police."
Despite the pain and his uncertain future. "I don't have anger at nobody. There's a lot of types of people, gotta fight it and deal with it but no anger, never."
Witnesses said the suspect car might be a green Subaru; likely to have front end damage. No arrests have been made.
