LOS ANGELES (Gray News) – A California family is mourning a mother of three and grandmother of seven who died weeks after she was hospitalized in critical condition due to injuries she suffered when a man jumped off an overpass and landed on her car.
Margarita Novela Galindo, 59, and her husband, Florencio Galindo, were headed out of town just before 7:15 p.m. Aug. 9 on Interstate 210 in Los Angeles. A man jumped off an overpass and landed on the passenger side of the couple’s car, according to the Los Angeles Fire Department.
David Galindo, the couple’s son, wrote on GoFundMe that the man, who apparently intended to commit suicide, crashed through the car’s windshield and landed on his mother. She was hospitalized in critical condition and died Wednesday, nearly three weeks after the incident.
“She’s not here anymore,” David Galindo told KTLA. “How are we going to fill that void?”
As family members mourn Margarita Galindo, who was a mother of three and grandmother of seven, they are overwhelmed by the “what ifs,” according to KABC.
“What if she stopped to get gas? What if she stopped to get water? This probably wouldn’t have happened,” David Galindo said.
“It could’ve just been two seconds off, two inches away. My mom would’ve been fine,” said the victim’s daughter, Stephanie Galindo.
Loved ones gathered Saturday night to hold a prayer service in Margarita Galindo’s honor, KTLA reports.
“The way it all happened, it just wasn’t fair,” David Galindo said.
“She goes out for a trip, and then, she just never comes back,” Stephanie Galindo said. “And that’s my anger: we never said ‘bye.’”
Florencio Galindo, who was not seriously hurt in the incident, is struggling to cope with the loss of his wife of 35 years, his children told KABC. But he says he’s not angry at the man who killed her.
“He doesn’t know what problems he may have had to commit suicide, but he doesn’t have any resentment,” his daughter translated from Spanish.
The family’s GoFundMe had raised more than $21,000 for Margarita Galindo’s funeral, as of early Monday.
If you or someone you know is in need of help, the Suicide Prevention Hotline is available by calling 988. Additional support can be found on their website.
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