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Odessa boy survives being hit by a reckless driver

Over the winter break, Joshua Villafuerte recovers after being hit by a car and plans to return back to school Tuesday.

ODESSA, Texas — The Villafuerte family almost lost their 9-year-old son, Joshua over the Christmas break.  

Two weeks ago Joshua was hit by a reckless driver who was racing down a residential street. The driver was going about 20 mph over the speed limit. 

"We just heard an explosion within the house. Some of the other kids came out and said what was that. Their heart dropped. I opened the door. I just seen a mangled car and my son moaning and I immediately run out there and got him," Joshua's father said. 

Joshua was loading his father's truck, getting ready to drive to New Mexico with his family for the holidays when the accident happened. 

Joshua says, "I was putting dog food into the back of the truck and it just goes blank after that."

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His family rushed him to Medical Center Hospital and an ambulance met the family halfway.

The doctors immediately started working on him, but he was eventually airlifted to the Children's Covenant Hospital in Lubbock.

Joshua suffered from a concussion, lacerated lip and about 12% of his body was covered in road rash. He also sustained multiple fractures in his pelvis, dislocated his leg out of his hip socket and all five vertebrates in his spine were fractured. He had a couple of surgeries, bolts placed in his hip, and 15 stitches.  

Joshua is currently recovering at Children's Covenant and his family has not left his side.

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"Of course I'm upset that this happened and that he has pain and I had to see all this and that I couldn't take it from him," Joshua's father said. 

Despite all that him and his family have been through, Joshua is healing well. He's been doing physical therapy daily, moving from a wheelchair to a walker to crutches.

And his parents plan on having him go back to school at Barbara Jordan Elementary on Tuesday. The entire school can't wait to welcome him back.

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