The Cuban Yoany Figueredo, father of Stephanie, a seven-year-old girl who was run over on Monday by a 92-year-old woman outside a pharmacy in Miami-Dade, is devastated and pleads for a miracle for his daughter.
"She is the daughter that we all would have wanted to have, and they took her away from me," Yoany said through tears to Univision.
The girl is in critical condition, with severe head injuries in addition to a pelvic fracture and several bruises.
The Cuban explained that the doctor who is treating her told her that if the minor survives, she will go through a very lengthy recovery period.
Stephanie -who will turn eight years old on September 21- "is disfigured and her head is very swollen."
"In the body, there were no bruises, just a hip fracture, but that's nothing compared to the rest. His body is intact. Everything is in the head," said the grieving father, who pointed out that his family collapsed when they saw her.
At the moment the tragic accident occurred, mother and daughter were shopping together before the celebration of the older brother's birthday, which was that same day.
“She was holding her mother's hand, they were about to cross the street, a car was coming, they stopped, the car passed, a car was coming from far away, they continued crossing and out of nowhere came the car that hit her,” Figueredo explained about the accident, which occurred at the exit of the Navarro pharmacy located at 2120 Southwest 23rd Avenue, in Coral Gables.
The youngest is the smallest of four children of Yoany Figueredo, but the only daughter of her mother, who was slightly injured in the incident.
The girl's father called on families to set boundaries with very older drivers.
"We need to raise awareness about this type of situation, older people driving who have lived their whole lives and are hurting the community, in the worst-case scenario with an accident, as in this case," said the Cuban.
Yoany Figueredo said that he works as a teacher and appealed to the community's solidarity to cope with medical expenses.
The family has created a petition on the GoFundMe fundraising platform that in just 24 hours has raised over $22,000 out of a $30,000 goal.
The nonagenarian driver -who remained at the scene of the accident and whose identity has not been revealed- was cited by the authorities for negligent driving, but she is not expected to face criminal charges.
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