A couple who was badly injured in a crash in Hollywood just hours after they got engaged is speaking out for the first time.
Tayla Mode and Marc Laspes were driving on Sheridan Road near 35th Avenue last Wednesday when another driver slammed into them.
"I was literally going about my day and boom, woke up right here in this condition," Laspes said from the hospital.
Laspes had proposed to Mode just hours earlier. The couple was on the way to the beach to celebrate when their lives changed forever.
"I discovered somebody that I've been looking for my whole life even though she's been there for a few years," Laspes said. "An hour later just waking up to a nightmare, stupidest thing I've ever experienced in my life."
Now paralyzed from the waist down, Laspes remained in the intensive care unit at Memorial Regional Hospital Wednesday. Mode suffered five broken ribs and cuts and bruises, but was released from the hospital on Monday.
"I don't think I should've survived, when I look at the car it doesn't match, I'm walking," Mode said.
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Hollywood Police are investigating whether alcohol was a factor in the crash, which closed the road down for hours. Detectives aren't releasing much information, but no arrests have been made.
The couple has support from friends and family and even strangers, with more than $5,000 already raised to help them recover. They say they have every reason to be hopeful.
"I do want to walk eventually, I'm going to be striving toward that, physical therapy is a nightmare but I have to keep on doing it," Laspes said.
"He can feel things, more than they thought he could and every day he's getting better, I'm so optimistic, his optimism makes me optimistic," Mode said.
