Boy Leaves Hospital After Long Fight for Life

Eric Lopez was hovering near consciousness last Christmas. The City Terrace 10-year-old had been hit by a car Dec. 14 while riding his bike and slipped into a coma. There were no gifts, no celebration when the holidays came--his family didn’t know whether he would make it.

But on Friday, a beaming Eric clutched a big Pooh bear as he was wheeled into the playroom at White Memorial Medical Center in Boyle Heights for a going-away party and belated Christmas celebration.

After months of therapy, Eric was going home, and the community was celebrating. Doctors, nurses and volunteers showered him with hugs and presents, and Los Angeles police officials from the Hollenbeck Division named him honorary commander.

Eric is still gaining strength and recovering his speech, but doctors said he could be walking again in a few months.

For Eric and his mother, Elizabeth Perez, the moment was too much. They cried as she clutched her son. “He’s my little angel,” Perez said, quietly sobbing. “There was a guardian angel on his side. That’s why he’s still with us.”

A few minutes later, the boy brightened and demonstrated the Macarena for a group of well-wishers. After opening gifts from the staff, police helped him clamber into a patrol car. He blew kisses goodbye and with lights flashing, a motorcade of police cars pulled away to take him home.