A Waltham High School student who was run over by a truck over the weekend remains hospitalized in a medically induced coma, officials said Tuesday.
Officers responding to a report of a crash involving a pedestrian in the area of Lowell and Cushing streets around 12:30 p.m. found 18-year-old Matthew DeOliveria suffering from critical injuries, according to the Waltham Police Department.
Police say Matthew was riding a scooter to the bank when he collided with a Ford F150 driven by 70-year-old Guy Girourd.
“He was wearing a helmet. Unfortunately, somehow, he hit his head,” Geisalberto DeOliveria, Matthew’s father said. “The firefighters were very close. The ambulance was very close.”
A CAT scan revealed his son suffered a serious brain bleed in the crash.
Matthew is a member of the Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and was planning to join the Army after high school.
Geisalberto DeOliveria said the family moved here from South America and DeOliveria was planning to serve to give back to his adoptive homeland.
“He didn’t have much opportunity. So, once he got here he said, ‘Look, I think this is the right way that we serve the community,” DeOliveria said of his son.
The doctors have told the DeOliveria’s that time is on Mattew’s side due to his age.
DeOliveria said that his son has the strength and resolve to pull through.
“If God is trying to give me a lesson he picked the right guy,” said. “Because Matthew is strong.”
Matthew’s parents have worked for Waltham firefighter Kevin Meade for several years at a screen printing company.
Meade said, “he brightens the place up when he comes he really does. He’s a great kid.”
Meade set up a GoFundMe to help defray the cost of his medical treatment.
“They don’t really have anything,” he said. “They don’t have any family here. They need help from the community.”
No charges have been filed at this time.
An investigation is ongoing.
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