NBCJenifer Medina, a nurse in California, experienced her worst nightmare when she learned that a hit-and-run victim she was trying to help save turned out to be her 23-year-own brother.
Cesar Andreas Medina was hit by a car while skateboarding in a crosswalk and was rushed to Mission Hospital where his sister happened to be a nurse. Jenifer explained in the GoFundMe page she set up for her brother that she was working with a few different patients when someone came in and said the victim was "in bad shape."
Someone asked her to try to find ID in his wallet, but when she grabbed it the horrifying realization dawned on her.
"When I saw the wallet it looked familiar, and when we [opened] it [we] saw my brother's face on the ID," she wrote on her brother's page.
"My whole world collapsed as I did," she wrote.
Sadly, his injuries were so severe that he didn't survive what turned out to be a hit-and-run. "I just knew I wanted to say my last goodbyes to Andy after they cleaned him up," she told NBC LA. "And tell him how much I love him."
The GoFundMe page has received more than $8,000 in donations. "Andy is watching over us," an update on the fundraising page reads, "and on his behalf I want to say thank you."
Police arrested Andrew Michaels, 19, the alleged driver of the car that struck Cesar. He is being held on $100,000 bail and faces vehicular manslaughter charges and hit-and-run charges.
Our thoughts and prayers go out to the Medina family.