The mother of a Hemet boy who is in a coma after he was thrown into a roadway and hit by a car is spending her time at his side and hoping for a miracle.
Lucia Hernandez hasn’t spoken to her 15-year-old son, Angel, in three weeks. He’s been lying in a coma at a Moreno Valley hospital ever since he was attacked while skateboarding in Hemet.
On Feb. 28, Angel was riding near the intersection of Stetson Avenue and Seven Hills Drive when a group of teens pushed him off his board and into traffic where he was hit by a car and seriously injured. He suffered major head and brain injuries in the crash.
Since then, his mother has called his hospital room her home.
“I sleep here, I’m not going nowhere,” Lucia Hernandez said. “I’m going to stay with him. He needs me.”
The exact motive of the attack is unclear, but Angel’s skateboard went missing and his aunt, Belki Brizuela, believes he may have been the target of a robbery.
“They were waiting for him in that corner, in that street, on that stop light,” Brizuela said. “I’m assuming they probably wanted to rob him because, I don’t know what else to think. The skateboard isn’t there.”
Lucia says her girls constantly ask about their brother. Angel’s dad, also devastated, is now the only parent working to support the family.
During his hospital stay Angel has had a handful of other health complications. Doctors told his mother he is battling pneumonia for the second time since his hospitalization.
While he remains in the coma, his doctors say only time will tell if his condition will improve.
“We’re just waiting for any hope,” Lucia Hernandez said. “Doctors just say, ‘be patient,’ but they don’t know.”
Hemet police took four teens into custody last week for their alleged role in the incident.
Three 15-year-olds and a 16-year-old were taken into custody and booked into the Riverside County Juvenile Hall to await unspecified charges. Their names have not yet been released due to their ages.
While Angel’s mother waits for his condition to improve, she will also be waiting to see what happens to the teens accused of attacking her son.
“I just want justice. That’s all. I really want justice. Those kids have to pay. What they did is not a game, it’s real serious stuff,” she said.
The family has set up a GoFundMe page to help pay for Angel’s medical care.
