Long Island Boy, 14, Makes Miraculously Recovery After Being Hit, Nearly Killed By Car
BRENTWOOD, N.Y. (CBSNewYork) -- A boy from Long Island has made what might be termed a miraculous recovery after being hit by a car in January.
As CBS2's Raegan Medgie reported, Donny Maldonado's parents were told their son probably wouldn't survive after he was hit by a car back in January.
But he did survive and is back on his feet. He was eve out shooting hoops on a hot summer day Friday.
"Normally I just say I win, but then I realize that one of them is completely better than the other one," he said of his brothers whom he was playing basketball up against.
Donny keeps it honest when talking about his brotherly competition, which is sweeter these days because eight months ago, no one thought he would recover.
"Nervous -- she thought it was too late," said Donny's father, Matthew Maldonado. "She thought he was gone."
Donny, then 13, was hooked up to tubes and machines in a hospital bed after being hit by a car. His spleen ruptured and his brain was severely injured.
Matthew Maldonado said doctors told the family: "It's very, very bad -- just start praying to whoever you pray to."
It was early January, and Donny Maldonado was walking home from school in Brentwood. He got to a corner and went to cross the street when he got hit by the car.
Donny said he doesn't remember a lot from that day. He does remember going to school, and the next thing, waking up, in the hospital.
"Donny became a fighter that day," Matthew Maldonado said.
"It's been like easy-easy," Donny said.
Doctors put Donny into a medically-induced coma for a month after the accident. Then miraculously, little by little, Donny started showing improvement.
"It's a miracle," said Donny's mother, Laura Garces-Maldonado. "You know, there are still some deficits, but it's not anything compared to where we were. I'll take it."
"I wasn't sure, at a point, would God give me the opportunity to have my baby, you know, still in our lives?" said Matthew Maldonado. "So you can't take that for granted."
On Monday, Donny came home from the hospital. A day later, he celebrated his 14th birthday and said he was feeling "perfect and clean and healthy."
Donny's family shares his battle wound. They have gotten their hair cut to match Donny's surgical scar where the doctors operated.
"It's good to be home," Donny said.
A benefit concert was planned for Friday night from 6 to 10 p.m. at Brentwood High School. Money raised goes to medical costs for Donny.
