A Brooklyn man who was struck by a hit and run driver in 2012 has died of his injuries — injuries that left him completely debilitated for the entirety of his last few years on Earth.
Police said on Monday that Anthony Alvelo, who had suffered head and body trauma on Jan. 21, 2012 when he was struck by a reckless driver at Third Avenue at 12th Street, had died on June 2 at Palm Gardens, a rehab center in Ditmas Park.
He was 63.
A worker at the center, which provides long-term care for patients who are recovering from injury said that Alvelo "was unconscious during his entire stay and was unable to interact."
Worse, his condition put his family in a horrific situation: Members would "visit him frequently to check up on his medical status in hopes of obtaining any good news about his health conditions.”
But no good news ever came.
According to the NYPD, the driver fled and has never been found.
It's impossible to imagine Alvelo's family's grief at the decade-plus-long incapacitation that left the victim bedridden for the last years of his life.
“[The driver] damaged him,” Alvelo’s brother Lester Alvelo, told the Daily News. “He was alive, but dead in a bed. He could not talk. He could not eat. He could not walk. He couldn’t do nothing.”
People who have been victimized by road violence feel for Alvelo's family.
“Their grief must be compounded by the injustice and unknowing of their situation," said Anna Leah, who was also struck by the hit-and-run driver of a private bus while waiting for the red light in 2020. She suffered minor injuries, but continues to have pain in her fractured wrist.
Leah wasn't able to identify the driver and wonders if the driver was too scared to face the consequences.
"I think drivers are afraid to stop, but consequences exist for a reason. It's really important that New York City emphasizes bike safety and that it should be an essential part of training for vehicles."
