Rory Barros, an East Texas Medical Center paramedic, has been confined to a hospital bed after being involved in aserious accident.
Sgt. Patrick Swanton with the Waco Police Department said the incident happened around 3:30 a.m. on Aug. 19 in the median near the intersection of Imperial Drive and Loop 340.
According to Sgt. Swanton, Barros was getting out of the ambulance to respond to a crash, when a drunk driver going north failed to stay in his lane and hit the paramedic, pinning him between the car and the ambulance.
Barros received open fracture to both bones in his left lower leg, complete blowout of his left knee, a severe injury to his left hip/flank area and some other injuries.
He was taken to Baylor, Scott and White Medical Center-Hillcrest where he's now in stable condition.
Members of the local community are coming together to help Barros and his family during this difficult time.
"First responders are really important to us. They are out there every day, every night, spending time away from their families to protect ours and to make sure we're healthy and we're safe after incidents," said Marc Shaw, marketing manager at Bubba's 33. "So we really wanted to make sure that they knew they had the community support also."
From 4 p.m. to 12 a.m. on Aug. 21, 15 percent of all food sales at Bubba's 33 will be donated to Barros. Shaw said this fundraiser was the least he could do for a first responder in need.
"I was like I have to help, I have to do something. So we initially started by bringing food to the family at the hospital and then that grew into 'how can I help, what can we do,'" said Shaw.
Dale Yates, Division Chief for ETMC EMS, said the road to recovery for Barros will be more of a marathon than a sprint.
"What we're looking for is progress every day. We've had progress every day and Rory is in good spirit," said Yates. "So we will continue to go be with him and continue to be with him through the whole ordeal and then afterward."
Yates said Barros has already had a few procedures done, but he has much more to go.
He added that the rest of the crew is staying strong by leaning on one another to cope with what happened to their partner.
A GoFundMe page was also created to help Barros with medical costs. In just 48 hours, it surpassed it has a goal of $10,000.
If you'd like to donate to the cause, click here: https://www.gofundme.com/for-our-rory.
Copyright 2017 KXXV. All rights reserved.
