The teenager who suffered serious head trauma when he fell from a moving vehicle during a San Antonio Spurs NBA Finals celebration has died of his injuries.
Seventeen-year-old Jose Luis Rodriguez III has been in a hospital since Thursday but had already been declared brain-dead after the May 28 accident, the New York Post reported.
Victoria Lopez, the boy’s aunt, lamented the loss and noted that Jose was “ready to go out there into the world and make something of himself. It’s just a terrible tragedy.”
“The Spurs meant everything to him. As soon as the Spurs won, he was like, ‘Go Spurs, Go!’” Moses Rodriguez told the media.
The family moved to take the boy off life support on Tuesday.
Another one of the boy’s aunts, Yvonne Hudson, told the media that Jose had been hanging out of a vehicle on San Antonio’s south side as fans celebrated the Spurs’ victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder. But he fell out of the car and struck the pavement headfirst, leaving “blood all over the street.”
The teen was rushed to a hospital and had to be revived at least once. But he was determined to be brain-dead soon after arriving at the hospital.
The family had been “praying for a miracle,” but it just wasn’t to be. Jose never showed any signs of recovery and had been placed on life support.
The family urged fans to be more careful in their celebrations.
“Everyone, please be careful out there. Stay in your cars. If you’re in a vehicle, wear your seatbelt,” the Rodriquez family said in their statement.
The San Antonio Police echoed that concern, adding, “We encourage everyone celebrating to follow traffic laws, stay inside your vehicles, and follow directions from the officers who are there to keep everyone safe.”
Spurs star Dylan Harper added his own voice, urging fans to stay safe.
“I love y’all. Be safe out there in San Antonio,” he said on Wednesday. “I understand y’all are excited, but you’ve got to be safe out there.”
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