A 5-year-old boy is fighting for his life in the hospital after he was the sole survivor of a horrific car crash that killed four people in Rialto, including his father and grandparents.
The deadly crash happened on Dec. 15, just a day after Nathaniel Rodriguez turned 5. The boy was in a car with his father, his father’s girlfriend and his grandparents when, for reasons unknown, their vehicle veered off road and hit a tree stump, catching fire.
“That was very heartbreaking, to know my child was awake while he was pretty much burning, his whole face his hands,” said Adriana Shrem, Rodriguez’s mother.
The young boy is in critical condition at UCI Medical Center, where he’s being treated for severe burns to half of his body. His injuries were so severe that he had to have both arms amputated.
Tom DeBellis, Battalion Chief of the Colton Fire Department, recalled pulling the boy out of the flames.
“There was just, you know, crying type noises that we could hear that kind of alerted us that there was somebody still in the vehicle,” he said. “Him being exposed to that much fire and heat and smoke, we wanted to get him right to the hospital before, you know, anything worse happens to him.”
Rodriguez has since undergone multiple operations and doctors expect more surgeries will be needed. While her son continues fighting for his life, Shrem said she’ll be staying by his side hoping he’ll be able to return home to Menifee soon.
“He’s giving me the most strength because if he is there laying, fighting for his life, how can I not have the strength he has,” she said.
