Instead of cuddling with his dog, 16-year-old hit-and-run victim Jonathan Ramos was holding on to life Wednesday at Palomar Hospital. He's suffering multiple injuries to his liver, spleen, kidneys and bleeding from one of his lungs.
"You want it to happen to you instead of your child. I mean, you'd give your life to your child," Maria Martinez, Jonathan's mother, told NBC 7. "I told the doctors I wish I could donate my lung, and he said there's no such thing ... feeling helpless."
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Jonathan was critically injured last week while riding the e-bike his mother reluctantly bought him to get to school.
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“That was the fear," Martinez said.
She says Jonathan was about a minute away from home, on West Mission and Knoll roads, which is a busy intersection full of bicycle traffic and fast-moving cars.
The San Diego County Sheriff's Department say a man driving a pickup truck slammed into Jonathan, and then kept on going.
"If you hit him, just stop, call for help or something. Don’t just leave him like a rodent or an animal," Jonathan’s mother said.
The sheriff's department says they found the truck two days after the crash and that attempts were made to conceal the damage. On Monday, nearly a week after the crash, deputies say 23-year-old Alan Reyes surrendered to authorities.
Reyes was formally charged on Thursday afternoon. He pleaded not guilty to hit and run and reckless driving, resulting in serious injury.
“At least my son in a way can get justice. They found him. A lot of cases, they go without being solved," Martinez said.
Jonathan's mother has set up an online fundraiser for medical bills and remains by his side at Palomar Hospital.
She's hoping her son, who she describes as a recent honor roll student, can soon return to doing what he loves: playing basketball and spending time with family.
"You never think it's going to happen to you until it does. You always see it on the news, that it happens to other people, but you never think it'll happen to your family," she said.
