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On a quiet street in San Benito, with the city’s iconic Freddy Fender-emblazoned water tower peering over the treeline, 28-year-old Raul Antonio Ramos Vivas is confined to a hospital bed in a partitioned room.
He is one of 10 survivors of the May crash that killed eight people on the east side of Brownsville. After an excruciating month of surgeries, he’s now inside a small, unassuming house converted into a nursing home.
“We only sat there for 15 minutes,” Ramos said, recalling the crash. “And from the moment [the driver] passed by, I don't remember anything. Nothing, nothing.”
Originally from Venezuela, Ramos worked in Colombia’s busiest airport, El Dorado, before coming to the United States. He left the job, had a daughter, then started selling pitbull puppies. But he didn't make enough money, and so left for the U.S., crossing via the Darien Gap, a dangerous route migrants use to cross from Colombia to Panama.
Ramos was in Matamoros for a week, along with his cousin, Gabriel Gallardo, and a friend, Richard Bustamante, before crossing the Rio Grande into Brownsville where he presented himself for asylum.
He was the first to get out of the immigration detention center. He slept at a gas station near the Gateway International Bridge and waited for his cousin’s release on Saturday. Once reunited, the two went to a Catholic church for aid. They sent them to the Ozanam Center for shelter, where they stayed the night.
On the morning of the crash, the men were heading to San Antonio. They were trying to get to New York to stay with Bustamante’s family. However, that day, Bustamante was killed.
Ramos’ legs were broken entirely, from his feet to his femurs, along with his hips. His digestive system ruptured upon impact. He’s had eight surgeries and will soon undergo his ninth to reconnect his rectum and remove a colostomy bag. It will, hopefully, be his final surgery.
“The recovery is slow for me, but nothing is impossible,” he said.
Ramos’ stay in the nursing home is paid for until the end of the month. He is not sure where he will go after.
Fifteen minutes away, in a neighborhood just outside of downtown Harlingen, three more crash survivors, including Ramos’ 26-year-old cousin, are recovering.
Along with Ramos’ cousin are survivors Monra Alberto Quevado Silva, 31, also from Venezuela, and Jose Luis Duran Gonzalez, 29, from Ecuador.
All three are wheelchair bound as they recover, living together in a house rented by Border Workers United and the Ozanam Center. They met in the hospital days after the accident.
Connected forever by this traumatic event, they have trouble sleeping at night, and sometimes they're awake for 24 hours straight.
Not finding work in Venezuela and needing to support a young son, Quevado made the same journey hundreds of thousands of Venezuelans have made in the last few years. And he did it alone. He is still intent on supporting his family, whenever he recovers from his two broken legs.
“I have people behind me who depend on my help,” Quevado said. “That’s why I came here or else I wouldn’t be here. And [my plan is to] continue my life, just keep going and working for them. And with this [injury] that I have, I just have to live with it, really. And just keep moving forward.”
Duran and his family first traveled to Mexico to live and work, saving to eventually come to the U.S.. He came to Matamoros for 20 days, then was in immigration custody for a week before being released. On the morning of the crash, he was waiting for a bus to the airport to buy a plane ticket.
“At the time I couldn't assimilate it,” Duran said. “But little by little it was like understanding why things happen, why it happened.”
Both bones in both of Duran’s lower legs were broken in the crash. He had three surgeries, needing three steel plates and around 60 screws to keep his legs together.
Gallardo lost his left leg in the crash, just above the knee. Similarly to Quevado and Duran, he suffered psychologically at first but is managing. However back in Venezuela, his mother is still tormented by her son’s pain.
“She cries, sometimes she doesn't eat,” Gallardo said. “I say, ‘But mom, you have to be happy. I'm alive,’ [then she says] ‘Gabriel, it isn’t the same. Do you think it doesn't hurt me to see my son who lost a leg?’ That is not easy.”
Gabriel still needs a prosthesis for his missing leg, which Duran says is a priority as they all recover and ask for donations.
“That is something that we see as necessary, because [Quevado and I] already have our feet correctly, and when we start to walk we can defend ourselves,” Duran said.
The men’s physical therapy will continue for months, depleting the little money they have for rent and necessities.
The crash capped the end of an arduous journey to the U.S., mired by sleeping on the streets and days of starvation. But they’re hopeful, thanks to the kindness of others, that they will continue to find more support as they recover.
Up the road, Ramos is upbeat, despite all that he’s been through. An upcoming visit from his wife and young daughter are keeping his thoughts positive. Though he has at least another six months of recovery ahead, Ramos said he feels reborn after the crash.
“My dream has not ended. This is a process that I know will happen, and I am strengthened,” Ramos said. “It could have been me, and God did not allow it like that.”
To help the survivors of the crash, contact Cindy Candia at (956) 873-2712.
