Mother injured in Chula Vista crash monitors daughter’s coma exit

Isabel Aguiar is sitting at the hospital bedside of her 11-year-old daughter, Areli, as medical staff carefully lower the sedation that had kept the girl in a coma. Aguiar is monitoring the process from her own hospital bed, where she is recovering from fractures to her neck, spine, pelvis, and ribs.

The accident occurred three Mondays ago around 8:30 a.m. on Fourth Avenue near Moss Street in Chula Vista. Police report that a Toyota sedan exited a driveway and struck Aguiar’s Mazda. The impact pushed the Mazda into oncoming traffic, where it collided with an SUV. Surveillance footage recorded the sequence of impacts.

Aguiar stated the family was driving three children, ages 9, 11, and 15, to school. She described the trip as the children’s final day at their schools before the family moved out of state. Aguiar has no memory of the collision, recalling only the moment she left her house. She woke in the hospital with a punctured lung, a blood clot in her knee, and injuries to her elbow and foot.

Her 9-year-old son, Andreas, sustained similar injuries along with a head injury. Areli suffered the most severe trauma, which included a life-threatening head injury. Doctors have not determined the extent of any brain damage. They stated that a definitive prognosis is impossible until the sedation is fully out of Areli’s system.

Aguiar talks to Areli constantly, hoping the girl can hear and understand her. She watches video clips of Areli laughing before the crash. The family has opened a GoFundMe page to cover medical bills and other expenses arising from the accident.

Police said the other drivers involved in the crash did not sustain serious injuries. The investigation is ongoing. Authorities indicated that alcohol and drugs did not appear to be factors in the collision. No arrests have been made.

The Chula Vista Police Department Traffic Bureau is asking anyone with information to call 619-840-2796.