Before you consider having 'one for the road' this holiday season, consider the words a 9-year-old Texas girl wrote to the drunk driver who changed her life forever.
According to an article in the Huffington Post, Xitclalli “Chilli” Vasquez, then seven, and her aunt and sister were en route to have their hair done at the mall when their car was struck. The collision left Chilli paralyzed from the waist down.
In court for his sentencing, she had this to say to Jeremy Solis, the drunk driver whose blood alcohol was almost three times the level limit:
"I could not talk, so I had to use my thumb to answer yes or no...while I was in ICU I had very bad moments. They take me to Xrays every day, feed me through my gbutton, I had tubes through my mouth and nose," said the letter, as read in court by Xitclalli's mother. "I would like you to meet me and my family…there are days that are bad because I have a hard time getting around... Look at what I said and the words I said and tell me how I look and feel. How do you feel today? Do you remember July 9th?"
Xitclalli hopes the driver who did this to her will say he is sorry. Meantime, she plans to continue writing to Solis, who pled guilty, as he serves his 10-year sentence.
But the Vasquez family still needs help to cover the medical expenses that have so far cost them $1.6 million. Anyone wishing to contribute can contact Melody McDonald Lanier at the Tarrant County District Attorney’s Office.
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