DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – A teenage girl injured in a hit and run crash is speaking for the first time only to News 6.
Diana Torres, 18, spent days in the hospital after a driver hit her as she and friends and relatives walked down Sixth Street and Kennedy Road in Daytona Beach on Oct. 29.
"Why me? I know my case for people is not a big deal, but for me, for my family, it is, because I'm not the same," said Torres, who had just graduated high school and was headed to college before a holiday vacation to visit her family in the States changed everything. "I like to dance. I like to do sports. Now, I just try to walk normal."
The crash knocked her 20 feet in the air, according to the police report. Investigators originally thought she might die.
She survived, with memory loss and back pain that makes it hard to move.
"I don't remember (anything)," Torres said. "When I woke up I was in the hospital and I asked, 'What am I doing here?' They told me, 'A car hit you.'"
It hit her and ran. Daytona Beach police don't have a good description of the car because witnesses said it was dark. There were no streetlights or sidewalks.
News 6 pushed the city to install a stop sign and lights -- and soon a sidewalk, but that's little help to Torres. As medical bills mount, her case has grown cold, and Torres needs closure.
"I know about God. I do know about God and he told me every night I have to forgive people, so I will forgive him (the driver), but he has to pay, because he could do that to another person," she said.
Anyone who may know anything about the driver involved is asked to call Daytona Beach police at (386) 671-5100.