My name is Rose
Palomar. I am the wife of Alfonso Palomar. I met my husband while living with my
sister. He would visit on weekends just to see me. I loved his kind nature, his
sincerity. He was very respectful, a humanitarian. He was not a drinker or a
smoker. Everyone loved him. We dated for two years before we got married.
We had so
many dreams about home and family. We worked very hard to make those dreams come
true. We were blessed with two sons and a wonderful home.
Then
the unthinkable happened. On June 16th, 2004, at 5:00 a.m. as Alfonso was driving
on his way to work, Jorge Salto came into my husband’s lane at a high rate of speed
and hit him head on. This was the beginning of our ongoing nightmare. Salto’s
alcohol impaired driving and recklessness changed our lives forever.
I will
never forget that morning. At 5:20 a.m., the phone rang and I got up to answer it,
thinking it was Alfonso. Instead it was my sister-in-law’s husband, Jaime, who had
passed the crash scene and recognized what little was left of Alfonso’s car. I was
in a state of shock. I called my sister who took me to the scene of the crash.
When we got there, nothing remained. Jaime called my cell phone and told me that
the ambulance had taken Alfonso to Loyola Hospital. We rushed to the hospital
but I was unable to see him because he was in emergency surgery. All I could do
was wait and pray.
After waiting
8 hours, a doctor came to talk with me and told me that Alfonso was in very
critical condition and might not make it. It was one surgery after another.
They removed his spleen, then some of his small and large intestines. Next,
his left ankle was repaired with screws and nails, which caused severe nerve
damage. His left hip was also fractured. Both legs were broken, his femur
snapped in half. They put screws, nails, and a plate in both legs. He also
had a broken nose. He has had numerous surgeries and has many more to go.
The doctors had to be very careful because of his kidney and the medications
he was taking. Alfonso had 2 kidney transplants prior to the crash
(the first was rejected). His blood pressure would drop dangerously every
time they performed surgery. His teeth are still a mess, and he will need
major dental work.
Alfonso
was in the hospital for over a year. The first 3 months, he was in the ICU,
where nothing was clear if he would live or, if he did, whether or not he would
ever walk again. Because his body had gone through so much trauma, his kidney
had stopped working. Once again, my husband had to go through dialysis.
After the
hospital, he was moved to a rehab hospital, where he received physical,
occupational, and speech therapy. He had to relearn everything again.
He couldn’t eat or drink for 4 months and it took him 5 months to walk again
(baby steps).
My
husband still had his bowels to be repaired. After the surgery, he was rushed
to the ER because a leak in his small intestine caused an infection. I thought,
“When will this end?”
Alfonso
had always been such a hard worker. Now, we don’t know when, or if he will be
able to go back to work again. My husband has suffered emotionally, physically
and financially. We now have no income and wonder how we are going to make it
from day to day. The bills keep piling up and my children keep asking me, “Mom,
why can’t we go to the movies like we used to, or skating, or to Kiddyland or to
Great America?”
Everything we used to do and attend as a family, we cannot do anymore. My boys
don’t understand why. All of this because of Jorge Salto, who made a selfish
choice to drink and drive, without thinking about anyone but himself.
Our lives will never be the same, ever! Why did my husband have to pay such a
price for someone else’s carelessness? Jorge Salto made the wrong choices and
there should be important consequences for those choices. However, all Jorge
Salto received for his actions was 3 months of “Boot Camp”.
