Joshua Valdez, 22, the young man who was critically injured in a June 16 hit-and-run accident in Morgan Hill, continues to make progress healing from the numerous injuries he suffered in the accident, according to his friends and family.
Valdez, the Gilroy High graduate who was found early in the morning lying unconscious near the intersection of Butterfield Boulevard and San Pedro Avenue, remains hospitalized at San Jose Regional Medical Center.
On a Facebook page set up by his friends, titled “Prayers for Joshie,” his mother Stacie Valdez reported last week that doctors removed a splint from his broken leg, and “Joshie” began applying slight pressure to the leg.
Also, he removed his neck brace, “for good,” Stacie reported.
The Morgan Hill resident has been out of a coma and no longer hooked up to a breathing machine for a couple of weeks, according to Facebook posts.
Stacie Valdez also reported that Joshie is “usually in good spirits,” but he sometimes asks the patient next to him in the same room to be quiet when he makes loud noises.
Joshie suffered several broken bones and a head injury as a result of the accident. Morgan Hill officers found him lying near the intersection about 1 a.m., and paramedics determined he had been run over by a car.
He was hospitalized in critical condition, and was comatose for weeks following the accident.
Police later arrested Sandra Arias, 28 of Morgan Hill, on suspicion of causing the accident. Although Arias initially confessed to the crime under questioning by police, according to police reports, she pleaded not guilty to the charge of felony hit and run July 6.
Arias will next appear in court, at the South County Courthouse, on Friday.
Joshie’s friends continue to organize bake sales, vigils and fundraisers to raise money for the victim’s medical expenses.
