Local Resident and Business Owner Shares His Traumatic Event

Gabriel Escutia, a father of five children, has lived in the Tri-City Area all of his 53 years and owns Escutia’s Auto Repair in Union City. On July 25, Gabriel’s car was hit at 65 miles per hour by a stolen car being chased down Mission Blvd. by the police. Losing blood fast, Gabriel was transported by ambulance to the Washington Hospital Healthcare System (WHHS) Trauma Center, which opened July 1. Now, healing from a severe laceration to his head, Gabriel shares his traumatic experience and how the Hospital, his family, and the community rallied around him.

“I was told that at 8:15 a.m. on July 25, the Union City Police Department approached a suspected car thief at Starbucks and a chase ensued. After hitting a UC transit bus, the suspect T-boned my Jeep, turning it over onto the passenger side. I’m grateful I have a large vehicle, because if I wasn’t at the corner of Mission Blvd. and Decoto Road at that moment, he would have hit the car next to me carrying two small children. I see now that while it was scary, I’m thankful those kids are safe and I’m grateful to everyone who was there for me.

After the crash, I could hear the police apprehending the suspected car thief, then they turned their attention to me. At first, I thought I was fine, but when I pulled away the shirt I was holding on my head to show the police officer, the look on his face told me it was bad. I was quickly losing a lot of blood. Police officers and then firefighters helped me bandage my head, and within minutes, I was in the ambulance. I was very happy when the paramedic told me I was going to Washington Hospital, because it was close by and I know it’s a good hospital—all my children were born there.

This was my first time riding in an ambulance or even being in the hospital, but I couldn’t have been more grateful to be at Washington. When I was wheeled in, there must have been 10 people ready for me—they were all so caring and attentive. They cut off my clothing and the Trauma Medical Director, Dr. Chet Morrison, began examining me while applying clamps to my arteries to stop the bleeding. Within minutes, I was getting X-rays and MRIs to make sure there were no broken bones or ruptured organs.

Next thing I knew, I was in the operating room being prepped for surgery. The anesthesiologist was so professional and the plastic surgeon Dr. Prasad Kilaru did an amazing job repairing my major head wound. Soon after surgery, I was transported from the recovery room to my own private room. The nurses were all compassionate and attentive to my needs. Since I have a huge family in the area, it was good to be in a local hospital where everyone could easily come visit me.

The entire community came together to make my family, my employees, and me feel truly cared for. The police contacted some council members who called to check on me and wish me well. We received many gifts and meals from local friends, customers and businesses. My son’s boss gave him time off so he could run our auto repair shop while I was recovering. My inpatient social worker at the Hospital, Catalina, happens to be a customer of mine. She did an incredible job talking to me about my injury and making sure I knew the resources available to me in the Hospital and during my recovery.

At first, I was worried because I am insured by another local health care organization, but I was assured everything would be coordinated for me. When I contacted my provider, they told me all the trauma center charges would be covered and they even let me continue seeing the plastic surgeon who worked on me at Washington Hospital for my follow-up care.

I am grateful to everyone from the police, firemen, paramedics, nurses, doctors, and Hospital staff who took care of me, and I am glad we now have a trauma center within our community. I can’t imagine if I’d had to travel 45 minutes in traffic on the freeway to get the emergency help I needed.”

For more information about Washington Hospital Healthcare System’s Trauma Center, visit whhs.com/trauma.