Sympathy, Money, Job Offers Pour In for Hit-Run Survivor

Two weeks after the tale of his four-day ordeal along a freeway median received national attention, hit-and-run survivor Juan Francisco Camacho is touched but bewildered by an outpouring of sympathy.

The wall above his hospital bed--where the 20-year-old Mexican migrant worker lies in traction--is filled with notes, hand-drawn pictures from children in Northern California, checks and offers of employment from Alaska to North Carolina. Among them is a message from former President Ronald Reagan.

Scripps Memorial Hospital in La Jolla has begun a trust fund to handle the checks and money orders that are arriving daily, even though Camacho’s medical bills are being paid through the hospital’s indigent care fund.

The national spotlight focused last month on Camacho who lay near death in the brush-covered center median of Interstate 5 in Oceanside for four days as hundreds of thousands of motorists passed by without noticing him. After 92 hours, he was spotted in the thick oleander bushes by a motorist.

Camacho, who suffered multiple injuries, had been trying to cross the busy freeway when he was struck by a hit-and-run driver.

Nearly a month later, he cannot understand why so many people are fascinated by his gutsy efforts to stay alive. As an illegal alien, Camacho’s everyday life has been a tale of determined survival.

“To him, he did nothing that he considered heroic,” said nurse’s aide Terri Marquez.

Reagan’s letter is among his most cherished. “This is a difficult time for you,” the former President wrote. “However, from personal experience, we have found that your burden can become lighter if you trust in the Lord and in those who care about you.”

Lying in bed, a smiling Camacho said, “Probably so.”