For the past 20 years, they’ve parked their food trailer and set up a store on Lake Street, but Monday was different. At around 6.30 p.m., a car hit the back of Antojitos Dona Lety and the trailer caught fire while Leticia was working inside.
“I thought I had to get out. By the time I finished saying I had to get out, I was already on the floor,” she said in Spanish.
She got out of it before it exploded.
Leticia has eight broken ribs, as well as cuts and bruises. She must also use a walker for the next six months.
“She can’t do anything, she has to stay at rest all the time. It’s very hard for us to see because she’s an active woman,” said Nelcy Flores, Hernandez’s daughter.
Hernandez managed to get out of the food trailer with the help of Good Samaritans who were in the right place at the right time.
“Thank goodness for Lucio, the boy who pulled me out of there,” Hernandez said in Spanish.
Hernandez calls Lucio Pacheco-Silva one of the angels who saved his life.
He works in a food truck a few steps from Antojitos Dona Lety. He said he saw the crash and took action.
“I saw the impact and the food truck caught fire quickly,” Pacheco-Silva said in Spanish. “I didn’t think much more than saving the lady. I didn’t care. I wanted to get her out because she was stuck inside.”
It was a split second decision, giving Hernandez a second chance at life.
“I will always thank the angels who saved me,” Hernandez said in Spanish. “They are very good people. There are always angels. Sometimes something has to happen for you to notice it.”
A GoFundMe page has been created to help the family cover hospital costs and recovery.
Minneapolis Police said the driver of the car that crashed into the back of the food truck was not named at the scene.