Those who know little Mason Villegas say he is a fighter.
Diagnosed with a respiratory condition at birth, he and his mother Yvette frequently visited Valley Baptist Medical Center for checkups.
Now, however, Mason's family is at the same hospital watching their baby fight for his life.
"It's a miracle that he's alive right now,” said Mason’s uncle, Billy Villarreal. “And it would be a miracle if he pulls through."
Sunday evening on Wilson Road in Harlingen, a drunk driver caused the accident, then fled until police tracked him down and took him to the hospital.
Little Mason, however, suffered the worst injuries from the hit and run.
"He got the worst of it,” said Villarreal. “He got jammed up between the passenger seat, and the whole back seat was just smashed in together, with him in the middle."
Mason's mother Yvette and her friend Lyanna Casares were also injured in the wreck.
They are expected to fully recover.
Mason, though, sustained a fractured skull, a broken nose, and dangerous brain swelling.
But the outcome could have been worse.
"The good thing was the car seat was strong enough to hold him,” said Villarreal. “He was facing toward the windshield. If he was facing the other way, and the guy would have hit them, my nephew wouldn't be here right now."
Villarreal says this has opened his family's eyes to the horrors of drunk driving, and how one person's carelessness can cause such damaging consequences.
"He had a couple of hours of a good time, but that ended up causing hurt to someone else's family not to mention his own.”
The name of the suspect has not yet been released, but he will be facing intoxication assault charges.
We will also keep you posted on baby Mason's condition.
TV Station Profiles & Public Inspection Files forKGBT