The family of a man who leaped from a Houston freeway overpass to avoid being struck during a fatal series of crashes says he’s lost both of his legs.
Abdullah Baidas suffered multiple skull and spine fractures in the 10-to-15 foot (3-to-5-meter) leap Friday from the Interstate 45 overpass north of downtown Houston, and his his legs were so badly damaged that they had to be amputated, Mahmoud Abuzaid, Baidas’ uncle, told Houston television station KTRK. Baidas is hospitalized under intensive care but is in stable condition, Abuzaid said.
Two young children also were injured, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office said.
According to the sheriff’s office, a sport utility vehicle carrying a man, a woman and their children, ages 1 and 3, pulled over about 1:30 a.m. Friday because of a flat tire. Another car crashed into the SUV, and a woman from each vehicle stood outside on the freeway, the sheriff’s office said.
A pickup truck swerved to avoid the vehicles and a crashed into a wall. Baidas pulled over to help. Then, a tractor-trailer crashed into the vehicles, killing the two women, the sheriff’s office said.
Roads were slick at the time of the crashes because of light rain.
The Associated Press