Posted on 05/18/2004 5:58:46 AM PDT by Theodore R.
'Tiny' girl stands tall in family tragedy Child leads others to safety, summons help in crash that claimed brother's life
BY P. CHRISTINE SMITH AVALANCHE-JOURNAL
Elizabeth Hinojosa, a petite 6-year-old from Plainview, demonstrated physical and emotional strength when tragedy struck Sunday and her family needed help.
The pickup in which her family was riding left the roadway and overturned near Ralls in the early afternoon, shortly after the family left church services.
Elizabeth realized that her father, Gilbert Hinojosa, was pinned beneath the wreckage and her mother, Christina Hinojosa, was lying unconscious on the ground after being ejected. She got two other children in the pickup to safety and then summoned help.
Juan Ramirez describes his 6-year-old granddaughter as "a tiny little thing" but said she is strong and capable. She tried to lift up the pickup to free her father, Ramirez said.
Elizabeth's youngest brother, Jonathan, 2, was ejected from the vehicle and died at the scene.
"She got her elbow and she broke the glass (of the windshield)," Christina Hinojosa said her daughter told her. "She got the two other small ones out of the pickup. She crawled out and got the other two to follow her."
Elizabeth led her brother Michael, 4, and her cousin, Mark Delafuente, 5, away from the wreckage. The little girl then ran to the road and flagged down a passing truck, her mother said.
The three children suffered cuts and scrapes, and Elizabeth received stitches for a head wound. Christina Hinojosa said she was bruised and also received stitches for a wound.
Ramirez expected to take his daughter and grandchildren home from University Medical Center on Monday, he said.
Gilbert Hinojosa suffered a broken neck and remained at UMC on Monday, Christina Hinojosa said. He is paralyzed from the waist down.
The most difficult part of the ordeal, family members said, is that the children saw the baby on the ground, suffering from a fatal head wound.
Christina Hinojosa said the children told her, "He's in heaven now. He's going to be our angel."
Elizabeth's family said she maintains a strong attitude, even during their grief.
"She's trying to comfort you instead of you comforting her," her grandmother, Sylvia Ramirez, said.
The tragedy struck at a time when things began to look up for the Hinojosa family, Juan Ramirez said. The family had a scare recently concerning Michael's health.
Lumps on Michael's neck raised cancer concerns, but after a series of doctor visits and medical tests, the boy had been given a clean bill of health just two weeks ago, Christina Hinojosa said.
Money has been tight for the family as well, Ramirez said. Gilbert Hinojosa is a farm laborer and his wife is a homemaker who is attending school to complete her GED.
A fund has been set up at a Lorenzo bank to help pay for the family's medical costs.
Additionally, family members said, people have stepped forward and contributed about $8,000 to pay for Jonathan's funeral. Funeral arrangements are pending.
p.christine.smith@lubbockonline.com 766-8754
bump for lead in Pm issue
I wonder if seat belts would have helped any of them? Maybe the infant but maybe they'd have been pinned in and worse off.
You have to marvel at the strength of one little girl. Her wisdom exceeds that of many adults. I'll pray for her.
Sad.
God Bless and heal this family.
Wonderful little 6 year old hero sprang into action.
Bless and watch over them all.
Amen
Lumps on Michael's neck raised cancer concerns, but after a series of doctor visits and medical tests, the boy had been given a clean bill of health just two weeks ago, Christina Hinojosa said.
My Michael had that in 1990. I was afraid it was cancer, it scared me to death. We had just moved back to the Texas Gulf Coast from San Marino near Los Angeles... he was having an allergic reaction to all the mosquitoes and fireant bites he was getting here, that we didn't have in LA. They were some pretty big, hard knots on the back of his neck. Doc said it was swollen lymph nodes.
Carseats and seatbelts save lives.
Many, many more people are killed being thrown through a windshield or ejected than are killed inside a vehicle. I have friends who are cops and firemen who have never seen someone pinned in by a seatbelt, but have picked up lots of dead babies (usually Hispanic) off the road after they went through the windshield.
Anyone travelling with a baby not restrained should do hard time. There is no excuse for it.
Yes --- poor little girl --- and how sad for the kids to have to see the baby like that. It seems maybe if the parents had bothered to put the seat belts on, this didn't have to be so tragic.
>Carseats and seatbelts save lives.
Absolutely! That two year old most likely wouldn't have died had he been in a car seat. How did four children and two adults fit in a pickup truck with seat belts?
But there are some accidents that are worse if you have the seat belt on --- maybe the ones where the vehicle catches on fire.
Pickup truck. Max 3 seatbelts. No car seat. 6 people. Doesn't Texas have laws about seatbelts and carseats? This is sad, doubly so because it could have been prevented. Our local hospitals lend car seats (at no cost) to those that need them.
Sure, you could be unconcious in the vehicle with it on fire, but you have to remember that getting thrown out during an accident is like jumping out of a tall building, energy-wise. Plus the car has a tendency to roll over on you.
Talk to any firefighter or policeman. They will tell you that not buckling your seat belt on the odd chance of being pinned in is a sucker's bet. A seatbelt can be removed with a pocketknife, and there are usually going to be people around an accident.
>But there are some accidents that are worse if you have >the seat belt on --- maybe the ones where the vehicle >catches on fire.
Of course there are! But those are far fewer than the ones where someone is thrown from the vehicle. I work in insurance and see statistics all the time. If a person is so incoherent that they can't remove thier seatbelt to escape a fire, odds are they are going to be incapacitated to the point that they couldn't crawl out even without a seat belt. And if they are thrown from a burning vehicle, the odds are still not in thier favor to live through the impact of the fall.
Being paralyzed from the waist down isn't going to help matters.
If these people were motivated, they could address the issue. A lot of them opt for one newer pickup rather than two older vehicles, a pickup and a family vehicle.
>You think that maybe a farm laborer just might be a bit >short on funds to own the type of vehicle that could >properly restrain six people?
I certainly do appreciate that this family didn't have alot of money, but I also realize that a van, or station wagon costs just as much as a pickup.
Yes. The number of people who are thrown free vs. safely ensconsed is like 98%-2%
This vehicle was overloaded, period.
But my heart goes out to the family. This is a very hard life lesson. The father will and should feel guilt for the rest of his life.
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