Bryan Calle, the Ecuadorian teenager who has been unconscious since May after being struck by a hit-and-run driver, waved his hands against medical prognosis, his relatives said.
With the blink of his hands, that’s the moment Bryan Calle’s family says he answered his father’s call.
“Seeing my son who is already recovering is a very intense emotion and after seeing how he was there and… seeing that he is going to recover day by day is very exciting,” says Rosa Calle.
His parents, Rosa Calle and Segundo Calle, together with their niece Martha, stood daily at the foot of the hospital bed longing for that day, “those many knees that bent because there are thousands of people who prayed for Bryan…”, says his father. They traveled from Ecuador on a six-month humanitarian visa.
On May 26, her son, 17-year-old Bryan, was run over and abandoned on the streets of Waterbury. The suspect, John Egan, is a former Waterbury city official accused of drunk driving. Doctors at Connecticut Children’s Hospital gave no hope and asked that the family make the difficult decision to disconnect him.
“The decision was to just say disconnect it and that was the decision they wanted but I clung to life and I knew that God was not going to disappoint me,” said Segundo Calle.
They are confident that their son will recover, but admit that the process will be long. They have until December to be able to stay in the country. “It would be good if they would help us extend the visa to stay and see our son’s recovery,” said Rosa Calle, Bryan’s mother.
Medical expenses according to the family exceed one million. That is why they have tried to get health insurance, something that has been denied to them due to their immigration status.
Even so, the family appreciates the enormous support of priests, parishioners and donations from the community, “The faith that helped us thanks to be able to be there ahead and today we are seeing my son open his eyes, move his hand move the foot, he knows he feels…”, says Segundo Calle.
The hope is that Bryan will move from the hospital to recovery with therapy.
Egan, the accused of striking Bryan, is free on bail while the court case progresses.
