Two New Jersey brothers on their way back from a movie Friday night were hit and critically injured by a runaway driver, one of them suffering a fractured skull and the other a leg injury so severe the limb had to be amputated.
Michael Viruet, 20, had just taken his 11-year-old brother Adrian and their sister to a movie at a North Bergen shopping center when a car jumped the curb on Kennedy Boulevard at 31st Street, flinging the two brothers into the air, according to police and family.
The younger brother ended up with his arm impaled on a spiked iron fence, but the worst injury was to his head.
"I see my little son from the right side and he looks like my little son, like normal. I go to his left side and his whole left side, I guess where the fracture is, it's all swollen," said father Michael Viruet.
The older brother had a leg amputated, a decision that had to be made by his father who said he felt "guilt" over it.
The Hudson County sheriff released photos of the car they believe hit the two brothers, a red Nissan Rogue that lost its front right side headlight and had other damage around the fender.
Three days later, the driver has yet to be identified.
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"I just don't know how he can sleep these past few days knowing he almost killed two kids," said Viruet. "And it's not just my kids, it's everybody's kids."
Michael Viruet is expected to recover well from his amputation. The extent of his brother's head injury has not been determined.
