Colin Atagi

Palm Springs Desert Sun

A newborn baby and his mother were in stable condition Monday after the woman was forced to have a cesarean section following a hit-and-run collision in Indio.

Baby Ezra was born about two hours after Michelle Sanchez was injured in the collision on Monroe Street about 7:40 p.m. Saturday. Sanchez' 5-year-old son, Rodrigo, suffered two broken legs and a broken wrist in the crash. The family was returning home after buying baby clothes at a local Walmart store when the collision occurred.

"I could've lost both my sons that night," Sanchez told The Desert Sun.

A doctor said a C-section was necessary because Sanchez, who was eight-months pregnant, suffered significant bleeding in her placenta.

"Today, I'd have to say the baby is out of the woods. But the first 24 hours, it was really touch and go," said Dr. Bob Piecuch, medical director of the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Desert Regional Medical Center.

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Staff are giving the baby oxygen and he's stable enough to begin feedings.

He underwent a blood transfusion within minutes of his arrival and "that was definitely life-saving," the doctor said, adding that there's a need for blood donors in the desert.

Full-term delivery normally occurs between 38 to 40 weeks, but the baby was born after just 31 weeks.

"Just from a stability standpoint, this baby will have to stay in the hospital for at least four to five weeks," Piecuch said.

Sanchez said she's fine aside from some soreness.

The night of the collision

Sanchez moved to the desert about a week before the collision. She came from El Paso with son Rodrigo and her husband, who was also in the car but uninjured during the crash. As they headed south on Monroe Street, a northbound 1999 Ford Expedition turned left in front of the family's Jeep at Oleander Avenue, according to Indio police.

"We were talking and I just saw the SUV come to us like a movie," Sanchez said. "He literally drove into us."

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Both vehicles had major damage and Rodrigo "got pretty hurt in the accident, several broken bones," Indio police Sgt. Dan Marshall said. He also needed stitches to his head.

Following the collision he looked at his mother and "He was like, 'Why does this happen to us, mommy?'" she said.

Rodrigo was airlifted to Riverside County Regional Medical Center for injuries that weren't life threatening. His father was taken to a local hospital as a precautionary measure and he was with his older son Monday.

The 5-year-old boy was supposed to be released Monday, but doctors decided to hold him longer so he could undergo therapy and be fitted for a wheelchair.

The Ford's driver fled from the scene and he remains at large.

He's been described as a Hispanic man wearing a white shirt and blue jeans. Police want anyone with additional information to call (760) 341-STOP.