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Soccer player left badly injured after crash
A professional soccer player in Central Florida has been hospitalized after she was hit by a truck while riding her motorcycle. Mona Rodriguez was heading home from work last week when she was hit by a pickup truck near Conway and Curry Ford roads. Orlando Police said she was not at fault for the crash.
ORLANDO, Fla. - A professional soccer player in Central Florida has been hospitalized after she was hit by a truck while riding her motorcycle.
Mona Rodriguez was heading home from work last week when she was hit by a pickup truck near Conway and Curry Ford roads. Orlando Police said she was not at fault for the crash.
Rodriguez is in the hospital with serious injuries including a broken pelvis, knee, elbow, ankle, and wrist. She has had brain bleeds too. But, her close friends said she has been able to speak a few words and doctors believe she will be able to walk again one day.
Rodriguez is a professional indoor soccer player for the Central Florida Crusaders.
"It’s really hard. It sucks. It’s hard to see someone so strong in such a vulnerable position. But, she is one of the strongest people I know, and I know she’s going to make it out of this," her best friend, Miranda Johnson, said.
Rodriguez is from Columbia and moved to the U.S. to pursue her dreams of becoming a professional soccer player. When she's not on the pitch, she works at High Tide Harry's, a restaurant in Orlando. Her coworkers and teammates have been rotating visits in the hospital with her, as all of her family is in Columbia.
"We’ve all taken shifts to make sure she knows she’s not alone. Who knows if she’ll remember any of that, but that’s not the point," said Johnson. "We just want to make sure when she wakes up she’s got people around her."
Her friends said Rodriguez is such a positive person and her daily mantra is it's a 'good day for a good day'. They are confident that she'll be able to push through this.
"If there was anyone who was built to overcome adversity and be able to respond to this and come out better and stronger than ever before it’s Mona," said Brennan Heretick, the co-owner of High Tide Harry’s. "The circumstances couldn’t have been worse and happened to a better person but knowing Mona she’s going to find a way to make this work. Whether we get her back on the field playing soccer or this improves her coaching career, whatever is the next chapter in her life, High Tide Harry's will be here for her."
A GoFundMe has been created to help with medical expenses.