Gabriela Vargas had just split a combination taco plate with her 82-year-old mother outside Los 5 Puntos restaurant when she realized they hadn’t said grace.
They closed their eyes, put their hands together and began to pray.
Seconds later, the sound of screeching tires interrupted them.
Police say a suspected drunk driver made a U-turn near the five-point intersection that divides Boyle Heights and East LA and struck Vargas, her mother, and injured others eating lunch outside the restaurant on July 7. Her mother, Cristina Vargas, was pinned under the car.
Doctors amputated one of Cristina Vargas’ legs below the knee shortly after the crash, Gabriela Vargas said. Days later, after attempts to save her other leg failed, doctors were forced to amputate it as well.
“I’ve had like six days of just pure devastation and constant heartbreak,” Gabriela Vargas said after her mother’s third surgery. “She was healthy; she had nothing wrong with her.”
Now, after the final surgery, Gabriela Vargas said she was ready to move forward and heal together.
“My priority is her care. An 82-year-old to go through this at this stage in life,” she sighed. “I have a lot of questions for God and I don’t know why it happened. But my goal is to give her the best quality of life for whatever time I have left with her.”
The moment everything changed
On the day of the crash, Gabriela Vargas and her mother were in Boyle Heights helping to clean out her late aunt’s home near Cesar Chavez Avenue and St. Louis Street when they decided to grab a quick bite to eat before heading back home to Whittier.
The last thing Gabriela Vargas remembers before the crash was “headlights and a bumper.”
She suffered lacerations to her head and torso that left her with intense pain.
“I have staples in my head. I have staples on my right side and my left side. I have this gash on my left knee… It’s super painful. It’s really hard to walk and I’m only keeping it together because of my mom,” she said.
Boyle Heights resident Joe Diaz ran across the street after the crash and saw someone applying a tourniquet on Cristina Vargas’ legs. He said the driver appeared to be under the influence.
“That lady should have never been behind the wheel,” Diaz said.
LAPD Officer David Cuellar said the driver, 33-year-old Sapphire Marie Acosta, was arrested on suspicion of a felony DUI that afternoon. Court records show Acosta was later charged with driving under the influence causing great bodily injury and other offenses related to the crash.
For Gabriela Vargas, a criminal case is secondary to her mother’s recovery. A family friend has launched a GoFundMe to support the family and help cover expenses as Gabriela Vargas prepares to become her mother’s caretaker.
“I need to adjust now as a family so that I can give her that emotional and spiritual strength for her,” Gabriela Vargas said. “As messed up as this is, as pissed off as I am at that woman, it does me no good if I’m wrapped up in that anger. I need to focus on my mom. That’s all that matters.”
Focusing on healing and recovery
Gabriela Vargas looks back at her mother’s life story to draw strength.
Cristina Vargas immigrated to the Eastside from Mexico in the late 1960s and later became a professional seamstress in downtown LA. She eventually moved her family to Whittier, where she worked hard to give her kids the best life she could, her daughter said.
Now, Gabriela Vargas said, it’s time to show her mother that same level of care. She’s even considering leaving her job or pivoting to remote work to be there for her mother.
“My brain has transitioned to like, ‘It happened, fine, deal with it. And you need to focus on her healing and we can get out of this situation and get her home to a normal life so that I can give her the best life possible from here on out,’” she said.
Even before her mother leaves the hospital, Gabriela Vargas is planning all the adjustments she needs to make at home. She’ll have to install a roll-in shower and ramps, and is considering a service animal and a wheelchair-accessible van.
“I need to get a van that I can roll a wheelchair into because I’m determined to still take her to places,” she said. “I still want to take her on little trips… I can’t let this stop it.”
For Gabriela Vargas, that’s what moving forward looks like.
“If this is my cross to carry for the rest of my life, then I’ll do that for her.”
