Amethyst Delgado said the crash occurred Sept. 3, shortly before 9 p.m., as she was driving home from work in San Antonio, Texas.
SAN ANTONIO — A 22-year-old University of Texas at San Antonio student says she is fortunate to be alive after a hit-and-run crash sent her car off the highway and left her fighting to escape from the overturned vehicle.
Delgado said the collision took place Sept. 3, shortly before 9 p.m. local time, as she drove home from work on Highway 151.
Traffic had begun slowing near an exit, Delgado said, when she noticed the headlights of a white truck rapidly approaching from behind.
“I ran myself off the road a little bit to give it room because I thought that it was trying to pass me,” Delgado said.
But instead of passing, she said, the truck crashed into her vehicle.
The force of the impact shoved Delgado’s car into the vehicle ahead of her. Her car then hit a guardrail before plunging off the highway.
“I spun in the air, and when the car finally landed, it was upside down,” she said.
Delgado said her seat belt held her in place as she worried the wrecked car might catch fire. Her driver’s-side window remained closed, while the passenger-side window shattered in the crash.
“I just remember crawling my way out from under the seat belt,” Delgado said. “I just remember thinking, like, ‘I cannot die right now.’”
Once she got out, Delgado said she was alone along the side of the highway. The white truck that struck her had fled, she said, and the other vehicle involved in the crash also left without stopping.
“I had to wave down and scream for people to help,” she said.
Someone eventually stopped and called for emergency responders. Delgado was taken to the emergency room.
Doctors determined she had no broken bones, but Delgado said she suffered extensive bruising, swelling and open wounds, particularly on the right side of her body.
“I have some bruising right here on my face from the steering wheel,” she said. “The right side of my body is scraped up.”
Delgado, who hopes to become a lawyer, said the crash created financial challenges in addition to her injuries.
She works two jobs to help pay for school and said she used her savings to pay her tuition in August. She said she was unable to make her car insurance payment that month.
“Two weeks ago, I used every last cent in there to pay my tuition,” Delgado said. “I thought, you know, ‘What’s one month without insurance?’”
She said she still owes about $2,000 on the vehicle and now needs to find a way to replace it.
An online fundraiser was started to help Delgado with her expenses. As of Saturday, it had already raised nearly $6,000.
Delgado said she hopes investigators can identify the driver of the white truck. She believes the vehicle may have sustained significant damage in the crash.
She also said she has struggled to understand why the driver left the scene.
“I know he thinks about it, and I know that it’s sitting in his conscience that he doesn’t know if I was left for dead or if I made it out alive, and that’s something that he’s going to have to deal with for the rest of his life,” Delgado said.
Despite what happened, Delgado said the experience has changed her outlook and strengthened her desire to help others.
“I’m not done here,” she said.
