Miguel Solorzano says he's in New York City, all alone, trying to make a living to support his wife and children in Mexico.
His ability to do that came to an unexpected halt last week after a man randomly struck Solorzano with a hatchet while he was using the ATM in Lower Manhattan.
Speaking from his Bellevue Hospital bed on Tuesday, Solorzano told Telemundo 48 the attack at Chase bank scared him for life. His attacker, Aaron Garcia, a U.S. veteran from Yonkers, left him with deep gashes across his head and leg. The horrific moments that were captured on the bank's surveillance camera are still too tough for Solorzano to watch.
"It scares me. I was asking him not to kill me. I don't know why he wanted to kill me," Solorzano said in Spanish.
He says he was depositing a check on Aug. 15 when he noticed a man who he thought was asleep. While Solorzano was busy at the machine, the man crept up from behind and started swinging the hatchet at him.
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"He just wanted to hit me. He really wanted to hit me and I don't know why. I didn't do anything to him," Solorzano added, still puzzled why this happened to him.
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Days after the attack, the NYPD arrested and charged Garcia with attempted murder and assault. But Solorzano still doesn't have an answer.
Police say Garcia was already in the bank when Solorzano entered and the two never exchanged words. After Garcia allegedly left the 51-year-old father bloody on the ground, he smashed multiple ATM machines with the same hatchet.
Solorzano tells Telemundo the last he remembers is crawling out onto the street and screaming for help.
"People started taking pictures, somebody gave me a bottle of water," he recalled. "I wanted to drink water but I couldn't...so I took the water and poured it out onto my head because I was bleeding. I still remember that, putting water on my head."
