EL CAJON, Calif. (KGTV) - Parents of a 17-month-old boy are keeping are vigil, after he was critically injured during a wrong-way crash that sent concrete debris into vehicles.
Just after 7:30 p.m. Sunday, Anthony Robinson was driving his SUV, his 10-year-old son in the front. In the back were his teen daughter and his 17-month-old son, Akeel, sleeping in a car seat.
They pulled up to a stoplight on N. 2nd Street, preparing to turn onto I-8 West.
“We were about three cars back, just waiting for the light,” said Robinson.
That's when it happened.
“We heard a long banging noise. It was really loud. It sounded almost like a bomb went off. Then another loud bang. After the first bang, the windshield caved in, and it got smoky,” said Robinson.
According to the CHP, a Chevy Silverado was going east on westbound I-8, before the driver lost control, crashing into a concrete guardrail, a median, and then into a concrete wall, showering debris onto the vehicles below.
The Silverado careened over the overpass, ending up nearly upright against a wall, before bursting into flames, feet from Robinson's SUV.
Robinson scrambled to get his kids out. All were okay, except Akeel. The window near him was shattered. Chunks of debris, some the size of softballs, were found inside the SUV.
“His head was slumped over. He had a gash on the top right side of his head and was bleeding quite a bit,” said Robinson.
Akeel was rushed to a hospital with two skull fractures and a fractured jaw. Surgeons had to remove part of his skull to reduce brain swelling. He remains in a medically induced coma, in critical condition at Rady Children's Hospital.
“It’s hard to see him in pain, all the wires. I wish it was me, that I could take his pain away,” said an emotional Kayte Blocker, Akeel’s mother.
The couple says doctors are hopeful Akeel will survive, but they won't know about possible brain damage until the swelling goes down.
As they keep vigil at his bedside, they lean on their faith.
“Prayers, a lot of them,” said Blocker.
”Please, please, please. Everyone, keep us in your prayers,” said Robinson.
A CHP spokesperson say several other vehicles were also damaged by debris, but there were no other injures.
The driver, who passed away at the scene, has yet to be identified. The investigation into the crash is ongoing. It is unknown if drugs or alcohol were factors.
A Gofundme campaign has been set up to help Akeel's family with medical and other expenses.
