IMPERIAL BEACH, Calif. — Ilse Marroquin, a 34-year-old mother from Imperial Beach, talked to CBS 8 from Sharp Memorial Hospital, where she's been staying for the past several weeks, missing her kids everyday.
“I just want to see my babies,” said Marroquin, who is still in shock, but says she is thankful to still be alive after coming close to death.
“I was about to finish crossing, when this man just kept going and all I remember is looking at my daughter and I don’t he just hit me with his truck, I don't know how to explain it,” said Marroquin.
Marroquin and her five kids were riding their bikes two weeks ago. They were crossing the intersection on 11th street and Fern Ave when she says a 78-year-old driver in a Silverado pickup truck failed to stop at a stop sign and struck her and her daughter.
Marroquin and her 11-year-old daughter were both hospitalized. Her daughter was not seriously hurt, but Marroquin was. Marroquin's leg was dragged by the truck and she needed several blood transfusions.
“I was under the truck and I just remember the tires hitting my legs, I was screaming for help. My little ones came running and they called 911, the guy never exited the vehicle. The crowd that came out, thankfully they saw what happened and surrounded his truck so he wouldn’t leave,” said Marroquin.
According to San Diego County’s Bike Coalition, over 300 people are killed or seriously injured by drivers in San Diego county every year.
Just this week, five cyclists riding in different parts of San Diego were struck by a vehicle, one cyclist was hit in Barrio Logan.
“I don't know, I just keep thinking about it, thinking about how my leg was under the tire,” she said.
The driver was arrested and booked into San Diego Central jail. The investigation into the crash is being handled by the Sheriff's Department.
Marroquin is waiting to get the news that she can go home to her kids who are staying with her sister.
However, her recovery will take years and worries how she will provide for her kids as a single mother.
With several medical bills coming their way, the family has set up a GoFundMe account.
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