PINELLAS PARK, Fla. — Liz Niles is grateful her son is alive, but she knows the challenges that lie ahead as he essentially must re-learn how to live.
“It’s not going to be an easy road,” she said.
Her son, 31-year-old Brandon Niles, was riding his motorcycle on Park Boulevard near N. 40th Street around 10:30 p.m. Jan. 16 when police say a driver cut him off. Niles hit the back of the vehicle, causing him to be thrown off his motorcycle.
The driver, who police identified as 20-year-old Jah-Vez Tierre Deon Hill-Holmes, never stopped.
A Florida Highway Patrol trooper happened to witness the crash.
The trooper can be seen on dash cam using tourniquets to render aid to Niles until more help arrived.
Niles’ mother is adamant her son wouldn’t be alive had it not been for the trooper. She says, given the chance, they’d all like to thank him for what he did.
“Without him, I wouldn't be talking to you about my son's injuries, I'd be talking to you about a funeral,” Liz Niles said.
“The trooper being there is monumental for me.”
Niles, a father to two young children and stepfather of one, was even alert enough to call his mother once he was placed in an ambulance.
“He goes, ‘Momma, the worst nightmare just happened to me, I lost one leg and I’m pretty sure I’m going to lose the other one,’” Liz Niles recalled.
“Oh gosh, it’s like somebody stabbing you in the heart, leaving you without air because you don’t know how to react.”
Police say Hill-Holmes later returned to the scene of the crash and told investigators he was trying to make a left turn across all lanes on Park Blvd when he cut off Niles. He’s now facing several charges for leaving the scene of a crash and driving on a suspended license.
Friends have launched a GoFundMe to help with Niles’ mounting medical bills, which the family’s attorney says could exceed $1 million.
Cal Robinson with the 813 Injury Law Group says though Hill-Holmes had insurance they believe it won’t be nearly enough.
Robinson's law firm set up a page on its website and an email HelpBrandonNiles@gmail.com to make it easy for people to help in any way possible.
"Whether it's with the prosthetic or construction and changes necessary to the home, “Robinson said, referring to the need to make the home wheelchair accessible. “He’s going to have a mountain to climb in medical bills.”
But before the mountain, mom says they’re celebrating small steps.
"The doctors say they can't believe,” she said, talking about her son’s recovery following several surgeries since last week. “The evolution he has had is surprising even to them.”
She says her son and the rest of the family are determined not to let the reckless actions of one change their own.
"I think that the attitude catapults his healing and is helping him to recover faster,” she said. “He has such a will, it’s just amazing.”
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