MIAMI – An elderly man was released from Jackson Memorial Hospital's rehabilitation center Tuesday, weeks after surviving an accident in which he was run over by his own SUV.
"Thank God I am alive," Mario Armenteros, 82, said.
Armenteros was nearly crushed to death July 27 in the Lago Plaza parking lot near the intersection of West 28th Avenue and West 68th Street in Hialeah.
His daughter, Yolanda Corzo, told Local 10 News that her father was driving his SUV when he felt like he had run over something. He stepped on the break and rushed out of the SUV to check out the road.
He said he was looking underneath his car when his own SUV ran him over.
Armenteros was rescued by Hialeah Fire Department personnel and airlifted to Jackson Memorial Hospital.
He suffered a head injury that required 73 staples, 15 fractures in his back and eight breaks in his neck.
"My big pain was in my head," Armenteros said.
Armenteros spent nine days in the intensive care unit. He was then transferred to Jackson's rehabilitation center, where he underwent physical therapy to regain all of his motor skills, his daughter said.
"Twenty five days later he's out. A miracle. I mean, he's a tremendous, strong man," Corzo said. "He's always been (the) rock of the family."
Corzo has since created a GoFundMe page to help cover her father’s expenses as he continues to recover. Doctors estimate his recovery will last at least another six months.