Orphan loses his leg after drunk driver slammed into bus stop he was sitting at – teen came to US from Guatemala and lost his mother to cancer
- Gelvy Ortiz, 18, was sitting at the Wilshere Boulevard and 26th Street bus stop
- John Edward Alevizos, 35, jumped the curb and crashed into Ortiz
- Ortiz and his brothers came to the US from Guatemala in search of a better life
A California orphan who came to this country in search of the American Dream with his brothers lost his leg after he was waiting for a bus in Los Angeles and was struck by an alleged drunk driver.
Gelvy Ortiz, 18, was sitting at the Wilshere Boulevard and 26th Street bus stop on June 2, according to police.
Suddenly, John Edward Alevizos, 35, jumped the curb and crashed into Ortiz.
Ortiz, who came to America – where he still attends high school – from Guatemala with his three siblings, had his left leg amputated shortly after and remains hospitalized. The doctors struggled to save his right one.
‘I was waiting for the bus and the car hit me. I lost my left leg,’ he told ABC7.
Ortiz has lived with just his brothers ever since the boys’ mother died of breast cancer.
Brother David, 23, said that he came first before eventually bringing his brothers over from Guatemala, where they’d been staying with their 80-year-old grandmother.
He’s been caring for his younger brother day and night, taking time away from the two jobs he already works.
Ortiz is anticipating a struggle for the family both financially and in terms of the logistics of caring for Gelvy once he comes home.
‘We’ll need to rent a bottom-floor apartment. Our apartment is on the top floor. He won’t be able to get up the stairs,’ he told the news station.
A GoFundMe was created by Amy Roblero to try and help the family. She described Gelvy as a good student.
‘He always managed to obtain the best grades at school, regardless of the language and racial barriers he has faced,’ Roblero wrote on the campaign, which has raised over $46,000.
Gelvy, an avid soccer player, also had plans to enlist in the United States Army after completing high school, according to KTLA.
John Edward Alevizos, 35, posted bail and was let free shortly after he was arrested for the crash. He is charged with felony DUI
The scene at the bus stop where Ortiz was sitting at Wilshere Boulevard and 26th Street on June 2
Ortiz, who planned to enlist in the US Army after high school, is using his faith to spur on his hopeful recovery. ‘I’m asking God to give me the strength to get through this situation’
‘He did this all while his brothers worked so that they could support one another.’
The campaign’s goal is currently set at $100,000 for ‘medical bills, and pay for their basic human necessities (rent, food, bills, etc.)’ and to eventually get Gelvy a prosthetic leg.
Ortiz is using his faith to spur on his hopeful recovery.
‘I’m asking God to give me the strength to get through this situation,’ he said.
Alevizos posted bail and was let free shortly after he was arrested for the crash. He is charged with felony DUI.
