A man who survived a motorcycle crash in Fort Myers wants to thank a stranger who stepped in and saved his life.
Around 10 a.m. on Thursday, Ryan Vieira was riding his motorcycle down Six Miles Cyprus Parkway. As he approached Dani Drive, he said a car turned into the intersection and stopped in the middle of it.
Vieira slammed into the vehicle.
Vieira said, "I hit them because they ran a stoplight. It's one of those stoplights where it's like, if the intersection is clear, if the intersection is clear, you're allowed to turn."
Vieira said he blacked out. He believes he wouldn't be alive if a stranger, an employee at Lee County Plumbing & Well Service, hadn't stopped and used his work truck to block the road, preventing cars from hitting him.
"From what I heard, he stayed there until paramedics showed up. I'm just really grateful for that gentleman. And. If there's anything I could do, I would thank him for the rest of my life, because I'm pretty sure if it wasn't for him, I wouldn't be here today," said Vieira.
Vieira says he woke up in a hospital's trauma unit.
"My injuries are pretty extensive, I couldn't even tell you the list of injuries, that I have. I know I shattered my jaw, all my teeth are there, but they're just, you know, they're shattered into pieces. I lost a limb. I lost a finger, on my left hand. I had to get one amputated. I fractured two or three bones in my spine.I have no movement in my right arm whatsoever. I'm still waiting for MRI for that to figure out if I'm going to be paralyzed with that arm," said Vieira.
The hospital has become Vieira's new home. He's spent the last five days in the ICU, and this is just the beginning of his recovery. He said doctors told him it could take him a year to fully heal.
Vieira said he never expected to be in this situation and he would not ride a motorcycle ever again.
"Get rid of them if you live in Southwest Florida, or just try to ride in a group or try to stay away from anybody or anything like that. In the middle of the day, because I just happened to be at 10:00 in the morning. 11:00 in the morning. and I was not even expecting it then. my only advice is ride safe and just try to avoid any, anybody or any crazy drivers you see on the road."
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