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Teen recovering from major injuries after getting hit by RTD bus

Malakai Cruz, 19, is recovering at a local hospital after his family says he was hit by an RTD bus on July 3 in Westminster
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Malakai Cruz
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WESTMINSTER, Colo. — A teen is recovering at a local hospital after his family said he was hit by an RTD bus nearly a month ago.

Denver7 spoke to Amber Cruz, the mother of Malakai Cruz, 19, who said her son was riding his bike with a friend near the Westminster RTD Station on July 3rd when he was hit by a bus.

"I got a call. I dropped to my knees," said Amber. She said the crash broke all of her son's ribs, crushed his pelvis and left him with a punctured lung among several other injuries.

"From the waist down, he has no skin on the right side — no skin, no muscle. His muscle was completely torn open from the bone," said Amber.

Denver7 reached out to Westminster Police and RTD directly for more information about the circumstances surrounding the crash but they could not give much information. When we asked RTD for a statement they declined to provide one.

Teen recovering from major injuries after getting hit by RTD bus

"It's just been awful. Every aspect of this has been awful. It's been rough," added Amber.

Once Malakai gets out of critical care at Swedish Medical Center in Englewood — she said it'll be a long road of rehabilitation. He must learn how to walk again.

"It's been really hard on him physically, mentally, emotionally," said Amber, but adds that her son is remaining as strong as he can through it all, "My son loves to run, he loves to climb, he's fighting so hard so that he could run again one day."

The Cruz family has launched a GoFundMe fundraiser to help cover the cost of medical bills.

You can donate here.

"Just keep them in your thoughts. I want my son to make a full recovery from this," said Amber.


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