HOWARD COUNTY, Md. — One local woman has started off the new year in distress as she watches her husband in the hospital, still unable to speak or walk.
Carlos Bonilla is still fighting for recovery, almost eight months after two vehicles hit him on Highway 100 going toward Ellicott City.
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His wife Georgina Garcia says it was back in June when she had just overcome cancer and the two were ready to celebrate that milestone when the tragedy hit.
Bonilla was heading home from work when his car died. As he was pushing it off the highway, he was hit.
"We still don't know about the first vehicle, but the other one stayed behind, and I still haven't been able to get any information from that person,” said Garcia.
Officers are still searching for the other driver who took off.
Garcia says Bonilla's skull was fractured, all his bones were either broken or fractured and he was in a coma.
Placed in Shock Trauma for months, he was finally released to a rehab center.
Garcia said "He's learning to walk, he's learning to talk. He still has a lot of fractures a lot of broken bones still.”
He's been through 13 surgeries and still needs six more.
But Garcia says it's not possible at this time.
She says insurance hasn't paid a dime and it’s been a battle since Bonilla can't speak to give his account of what happened.
"Our medical insurance said this is something that had been accidental,” she said. “ We should be getting coverage by them since he was a pedestrian at the moment the accident happened. So going back and forth [and] nobody wants to cover anything.”
So far, the family has incurred over $600,000 in hospital bills and with insurance not paying, the amount keeps racking up.
She recently lost her job and says taking care of their five children along with other expenses has become an even further obstacle on her life as Bonilla was the sole provider.
The rehab center is ready to release him.
A GoFundMe page has been created to support her family. She says the goal is to use that amount to pay for the care he would need when he's home.
"The GoFundMe we're trying to use it for he's going to need physical therapy, nurses [and an] aid person to come out and help us with him," said Garcia.
She says she just wants her husband home but can't do it alone.
“We are blessed that he's still here, but we are swamped with bills. We need a lot more help financially. If not we will all be homeless sooner or later,” Garcia added.
The GoFundMe page is listed as Gigi and Carlos Bonilla and Children.
