National Trauma Survivors Day was celebrated Wednesday at HCA Florida Kendall Hospital.
The keynote speaker, 30-year-old Alba Alonso, almost died on Nov. 22, 2020 when a drunk driver pinned her between two cars after she'd pulled over to get her son's blanket from the trunk of her car.
"My right leg was completely pinned, and I broke my wrists bones trying to get myself out of there," Alonso said.
She said her injuries were life threatening. Her right leg was severed below the knee and she was losing a lot of blood.
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"My wife came out of the car, she pulled me out from in between the car and I know that it was something that was hard for her, it was hard for my son and I remember him looking out the back window and I was laying there without a leg," Alonso said.
Trauma surgeon Dr. Michael Renda, who treated Alonso, also spoke Wednesday.
"A good Samaritan in the field actually put a tourniquet on her leg which saved her life in the field and then she came to us as a Level 1 trauma alert," Renda said.
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HCA Florida Kendall Hospital has a Level 1 Trauma Center. It's the only trauma center in Miami-Dade County besides Jackson's Ryder Trauma Center.
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