LOMA LINDA, Calif. (KCAL/KCBS) – A California man is grateful he’s still alive after a pair of boulders fell off a cliff and crushed his van, leaving him hospitalized with a traumatic brain injury.
From his room at Loma Linda University Medical Center, Joseph Furtek recounted his story of survival after his van was crushed by two boulders on Highway 18. He says he was going to live in the van while moving to the Central Coast.
“I’m very, very, very blessed to be alive,” Furtek said. “I don’t remember any of this, but I guess two large boulders fell on my vehicle.”
Rock excavation has been ongoing on the highway, but with an open road, Furtek says he didn’t think anything about it until the Oct. 18 crash. He says he’s glad he doesn’t remember anything about the incident.
“Nothing. I don’t remember anything two days before,” he said. “I don’t remember coming up here. I don’t remember seeing my friends.”
Since the accident, Furtek has been able to put some pieces together, like the two good Samaritans behind him who stopped and called for help. They held his hand until rescuers arrived. Those rescuers then spent hours working to save him.
“I had compound fractures all the way down my right leg. In fact, they were going to amputate my leg at the scene because I was losing so much blood from this leg,” he said.
Furtek lost nearly 75% of his blood volume due to the fractures, according to a GoFundMe started by his sister, but doctors were able to save his leg. He also suffered a traumatic brain injury.
Now recovering, Furtek says he’s stuck both physically and financially because his livelihood was invested in his van.
“Frustrated that I find myself in a bed and I’m not able to live my dream right now,” he said.
However, he knows his dream can wait as he learns how to walk again.
“It’s gonna take a long time for me to reestablish use of my right leg,” Furtek said. “I’m grateful I’m still alive, and it gives you perspective.”
It may take Furtek around four months to recover.
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