Posted on 12/10/2006 5:06:32 PM PST by Mark
"My name is William Nguyen. I was born in Vietnam in 1969. Due to a childhood brain injury, I have been severely handicapped since I was a year old.
"In my homeland, the handicapped are ignored or abused. I had no chance to study in school. English is the first language I have read or written in.
"My parents came to this country with hopes of giving me a better life. The United States does not ignore or abuse the handicapped, but tries to help them in any way possible.
"Through computers, I have begun to express myself for the first time. I hope to pursue a career that will involve communication in the age of technology, helping the handicapped who cannot speak.
"Thanks to the United States' compassion for the handicapped and the extraordinary opportunities to all of us in the age of technology, I face the future with hope."
His family found this letter on William's computer in the Canoga Park apartment he, his wife, Ny, and their 6-month-old baby, Justin, moved into last month.
They cried when they read it, especially that last line about facing the future with hope. Hope seemed so fragile to them now.
They had just returned from visiting William in the critical-care unit at Northridge Hospital Medical Center. Visiting might be the wrong word. William had no idea his parents, brothers and sisters were there - no idea even that he was there.
The 37-year-old father with cerebral palsy was in a drug-induced coma being readied for the nine surgeries he would face in less than a month to piece together the shattered body a drunk driver left behind after running over William in his wheelchair.
Left William unconscious on Roscoe Boulevard only a few feet from his apartment complex - pinned underneath a pickup truck that rammed through a wrought iron gate and only came to a stop after smashing into a tree.
When police officers from the West Valley station arrived on the scene and saw William's mangled body and the twisted wreckage of his wheelchair under the truck, they all took a deep breath.
It takes a lot to make seasoned police officers cry, says Los Angeles Police Department Detective Dave Millan and his partner, Officer Celeste Thiel. But there were more than a few tears shed at the scene - especially when they found out why William was out on the streets that night.
He was returning home in his electric wheelchair from a trip to the Northridge Mall, where he bought his son a Baby's First Christmas outfit that was on sale at J.C. Penney.
"You couldn't help but get emotional," Millan said. "That poor man fighting CP his whole life, finally blessed with a wife and new baby. A future. Then to be taken out by a drunk driver like this."
One of William's brothers, Ken, had told him to wait until the weekend and he'd drive him over to the mall, but William said no.
He wanted to do this himself. He didn't want to wait. He was eager to see the look on his young wife's face when he brought home that red Santa outfit for their baby boy on his first Christmas.
He was a few feet away from getting that chance when the drunk driver hit him.
Some cases you take home with you, Millan and Thiel say. This was one of them. They dubbed it the "wheelchair case," and promised to get the guy who did this to William.
Now, Jesus Ruiz Garcia, 38, has been charged in the case by the Los Angeles County District Attorney's Office. Garcia faces four charges, including driving under the influence with two prior DUIs, and hit and run with great bodily injury. Garcia is being held on $190,000 bail, and will be arraigned Tuesday.
Officials say William was Garcia's second hit-and-run in less than 10 minutes that night. He sideswiped another car, whose driver was chasing him, police said, when Garcia's pickup truck jumped the curb and hit William. Police found an open bottle of vodka on the front seat.
"Initially, Garcia said his car had been stolen that night, but he finally admitted it was him," Millan said. "He told us he wanted to tell the truth."
But the truth is too late for a father with CP bringing home a Santa outfit for his baby's first Christmas.
They are not a well-to-do family, the Nguyens. They're living the American dream like most families - paycheck to paycheck.
William's wife Ny and baby son are staying with William's parents in North Hills now. She can't bear to go back to their Canoga Park apartment because she has to pass the accident scene at the same street corner.
Even if she could, they can't afford the $827.96 monthly rent anymore. Between caring for her baby and being there for her husband as he fights to recover the future a drunk driver stole, Ny had to quit her job as a manicurist.
She hopes to get out of the year lease they signed on the apartment, but she hasn't heard anything firm yet from the property management company that runs the complex.
After what this family's been through, the management company should tear up that lease. But if they don't, I'll let you know.
The family's been having a tough time finding a good skilled nursing facility for William because when he finally gets out of the hospital, it's going to take at least three months of long, painful rehab until he's strong enough to come home. And then he'll need home care.
He'll also need a new electric wheelchair and a communication device to hopefully someday return to teaching other handicapped people computer skills.
It's a long list, the things William is going to need to regain that future a drunk driver stole from him.
But if he's right in that letter he left behind on his computer - that unlike his homeland, the United States does not ignore the handicapped, that it has compassion for them - well, I like his chances.
Dennis McCarthy's column appears Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday.
dennis.mccarthy@dailynews.com
(818) 713-3749
Subject: poll results
Latest telephone poll results on whether or not people in the US think illegal immigration is a serious problem:
41%: "Yes, it is a serious problem."
59%: "No habla Ingles"
Wow, that's hilarious. Under other circumstances, that is. Maybe this is not exactly the right thread for jokes.
The blurry screen got a bit clearer when it was revealed that the man lived. Bless him and prayers for his recovery.
I wonder if he was "undocumented".
Amen. This is the time for prayers. How I wish there was more concern from some freepers.
what a terrible tragedy.
Had the driver he side-swiped not been "chasing" him, I wonder if this tragedy would have occurred.
That was my first thought also.
Some of these are so bad, I actually feel bad for the cops that have to handle them.
The humor brings out the seriousness of the illegal invasion, although it is not certain that the suspect is illegal-- he is a prior criminal though.
Prayers to the family.
Americans usually rise to the occasion with tragedies such as this. And it's Christmas, FGS.
sw
"Show me just what Mohammed brought that was new, and there you will find things only evil and inhuman, such as his command to spread by the sword the faith he preached." -Manuel II Paleologus
What a moving message he wrote prior to the accident. Here's hoping he makes a full recovery.
He has a long road ahead and so does his wife possibly a life time one. The first year will be the hardest on all of them. Fiscally even though it wasn't his fault they will likely be ruined. If he wasn't on disability before this it will take two years for Medicare to kick in. In the mean time Medicaid will pay for some of it.
The woman is going to need some help herself dealing with it if not she can become the walking wounded from this. If he gets in a decent rehab center they will teach her the necessary nursing skills for him to come home. She may well never be able to work and be a caregiver as well.
The most important thing she needs to do once he is stable is make time for herself away from the situation. A few hours or a day out. If she doesn't she'll not make it. That's one of the harder lessons of it as well. Prayers will help them too more than many know.
Tragic. Prayers up for his complete recovery to optimum functioning, given his prior health challenge, his total spiritual healing and relief from discouragement for him and his family, and certainly for an outpouring of support from his community to meet their needs.
Think about the hospital staff that will have hands on his medical care. The cops just take 10-15 minutes, hospital staff will be involved 24-7 for the next few months.
I have no tolerance for drunk drivers. I think any drunk driving offense of above say a .15 should result in an automatic suspended license and that jail time should begin after the second offense (say 30 days) within five years. The third offense should be grounds for having your automobile sold at auction. I have known multiple people killed by drunk drivers in my life and have to tolerance for people who willfully put the lives of others at risk. Drunk drivers are slime.
SmoothTalker for Congress.
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