FHP looking for hit-and-run driver, 7 y/o in hospital

COLLIER COUNTY, Fla.- A 7-year-old is in critical condition following a fiery crash as the person responsible is still on the run.

Troopers say they are looking for the driver of a 1998-2000 maroon Ford Expedition.

Driving down State Road 29 Sunday night, Gilberto Ruiz Diaz was surprised to find a fiery scene. Two cars had collided, and went up in flames.

“The fire was just burning and burning, it was too hot for you to get close,” said Diaz.

But Diaz did get close, close enough to help pull a 29-year-old Christopher Medina and his 7-year-old daughter, Henessey Medina, to safety.

“We decided to put our trucks in between the fire and the victims. You could hear the explosion and the fire was getting worse and worse,” said Diaz.

FHP says the driver of a Ford Expedition was travelling northbound on SR 29 when he hit another car.

That caused the Expedition to go into the southbound lanes, colliding head-first into a Chevy Camaro coming from the opposite direction. Both cars burst into flames.

Seven-year-old Henessey Medina’s family says she was flown to Miami from Lee Memorial Hospital Monday morning.

“The little girl, she was unconscious in the beginning. She was throwing up blood, they turned her on her side. Kept on asking for her daddy and her dad would tell her, ‘baby, I’m here,'” said Diaz.

Christoper Medina had surgery earlier Monday. Although the Expedition stayed at the scene, the driver responsible for the crash is nowhere to be found.

“I can’t think of a reason in the world why you would run away from something like that,” said Diaz.

Anyone who may have witnessed the crash, or may know where the driver is, is asked to call the Florida Highway Patrol at 239-938-1800.