HOWARD COUNTY, Md. — Carlos Bonilla is fighting for his life after he was struck by a car while tending to his car that had broken down on the side of the road in Howard County.
For more than three weeks, Bonilla has been in a coma at shock trauma.
In late June, Bonilla’s wife Georgina Garcia said her husband’s car broke down on Highway 100 going toward Ellicott City. As he was pushing his car out of the main lane of the road, he was struck by a car and a truck.
Bonilla suffered a severe brain injury, and police in Elkridge are now investigating.
“He was having some car issue or a noise or something,” Garcia said. “Apparently, the car broke down. And as he was pushing the car to the side of the road to get it out of the main lane, he was struck by a car and a truck.”
Garcia said that thankfully someone in the area, a good Samaritan, saw the crash and jumped in to help him, or otherwise, he might not have survived.
“Luckily, a good Samaritan pulled over and started CPR on him and that's why he’s alive,” Garcia said. “And I wished to one day meet that person that saved them, to thank that person.”
Bonilla had part of his skull fractured and his partially brain dead, according to his wife.
“And they just want to figure out what side of the brain is not functioning,” Garcia said. “He has been through already nine surgeries and he still has multiple ones to go through.”
Garcia said her husband was a truck driver and the sole provider of their family.
With Garcia being a recent cancer survivor, the weight of this entire accident has been extremely heavy for her family to handle.
“Oh, this is the shirt that he made for me,” Garcia said. “When I finally beat cancer after three years of battling, I went through cancer treatment, chemotherapy and radiation for months and he made this shirt for me as I had cancer, but cancer never had me.”
Garcia said it’s the loving words and kind gestures like these that she and their five children miss the most from him.
“It has been very hard, especially on the little ones, because when I was going through cancer treatment, he was the one in charge of putting them to bed and reading the bedtime story,” Garcia said.
Because her children are so young, Garcia said she hasn’t shared the full details of the situation.
Right now, she’s just trying to keep them encouraged while she continues to remain strong for their family.
“And I know it'll, he'll get through this,” Garcia said. “And I know, one day we'll, we'll write a new chapter, a new beginning.”
Garcia said her family has started a GoFundMe page to help with hospital expenses.
