'God Put Me in the Right Place': Doctors Gave Man 20% Chance of Survival - He Defied Odds and Got to Thank Hero
Lives were on the line the first time Wisguere Dormevil met Eddie Rivera and his young son, Leo.
And now, looking back at the time he helped lift a Jeep off the toddler, Dormevil puts his role as a good Samaritan this way:
“God put me in the right place and at the right time.”
Rivera and his son were driving along State Road 100 near Flagler Beach in northeast Florida on the Fourth of July when their vehicle overturned.
“On the second flip, I ended up flying out of the top of the Jeep, and I smashed my head on the concrete twice, and I slid with my whole body,” he said, according to WSVN-TV.
But he was conscious enough to know who needed help.
“He’s like, ‘There’s a baby in there, there’s a baby.’ And after that, I look down and see the baby sticking out,” Dormevil told WOFL-TV at the time of the crash.
“I held it up and they gave another boost of push and then the Jeep kinda lift up and the car seat and the baby was just sticking out,” he said then.
@fox35orlando #toddler #jeep #flip #accident #overturned #Florida #FLAGLER #WisguereDormevil #RESCUE #news #FYP pic.twitter.com/4KQEZi6y8G
— Gee Rated Innertainment (@Gee_Rated) July 5, 2022
As Rivera and Dormevil met up recently, Dormevil recalled the day.
“[A] Fourth of July, I’ll never forget. Just driving up that 100 road, going toward the beach, seeing that Jeep flipped over, seeing multiple people on the ground,” he said.
“It was emotional, just being able to do something for someone that you’ve never met, then being able to see them in a different light where it wasn’t such a rush, and you’re not waiting for an ambulance,” Dormevil told WOFL-TV as the trio reunited.
Rivera, who said he spent two weeks in a coma after the crash, said little things are important now.
“I never knew how exciting it was to stand. It’s a blessing. For real,” he said, according to WSVN-TV.
“What the doctors told me is that I have a 20 percent chance of life,” said Rivera, “and that they had to kinda reconstruct like my head to make sure that I wasn’t gonna die on the operating table.”
Leo suffered a broken leg. Dormevil said he was happy to see the child he had helped rescue.
“It was very exciting. I wanted to give him the biggest hugs,” he said.
Rivera, who did not have a seat belt on at the time of the crash, is now an advocate for buckling up for everyone, no matter where they’re going, or where they’re sitting in a vehicle.
“Wear your seat belt, regardless of any situation, any circumstance, whether you’re in the back seat or the front seat,” he told WSVN. “That seat belt may — it could save your life.”
Truth and Accuracy
We are committed to truth and accuracy in all of our journalism. Read our editorial standards.
