DOWNTOWN LOS ANGELES () — A street vendor remains hospitalized three weeks after he was hit by a car and severely injured while selling homemade tamales in South Los Angeles.
Osvaldo Hernandez says his 77-year-old grandfather, Arnulfo Hernandez is recovering from his surgeries at a hospital in downtown L.A.. He’s been hospitalized since June 20, recovering from serious injuries after being hit by a car when he and his wife were selling tamales.
“He had hip replacement surgery. He had fractures on both of his feet. He had surgery on his foot as well. And he’s recovering well, it’s just, mentally he’s confused, he doesn’t remember the accident.,” said Hernandez.
The family set up a GoFundMe page to help with medical expenses and to help them make ends meet.
They say that Arnulfo and his wife have been selling home made tamales here at 28th Street and Maple Avenue for years — this was their only source of income.
Apolina Navarrete describes her husband as a source of her strength as they earned a living selling tamales together. She told Eyewitness News that she was fortunate that she wasn’t hurt, but a customer was also injured in the incident.
LAPD says this was not a hit-and-run and that they took a police report and that incident remains under investigation.
Apolina said that once her husband recovers from his injuries, they will not go back to Maple Avenue to sell their tamales.
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