At 76-years-old, Octavio Espinal was enjoying life with his family. Recently, they celebrated his victory over prostate cancer.
But on Nov. 8, after leaving his job at a building in Freeport, Long Island, he was struck by a car at the corner of Brooklyn Avenue and North Grove Street by a hit-and-run driver.
“That’s what hurts me the most,” said Mary Silverio, the victim’s daughter. “If [the driver] had stayed in the moment and do what he had to do — anyone can make a mistake, but he could have at least helped him. We didn’t know how he was left, why [the driver] left, just that he had left the scene.”
According to one of his daughters, he was a full-time employee at the building as a maintenance worker. He lived with his daughter and her family in West Babylon.
Flowers and candles commemorate the life of the father and grandfather who fought for his life in the hospital for days. The hit-and-run cut short Espinal’s dream of returning to his country of the Dominican Republic, something he had expressed on his last birthday.
“He said, ‘I’ll work until I’m 80, and then I’m going to Santo Domingo,'” said his daughter, Ivelisse. “He brought together many things, he sent over many boxes, and that was his future.”
Police have shared security camera footage and are searching for the individual behind the deadly collision.
A ceremony was held in Espinal’s honor on Monday at Mount Sinai South Hospital for his decision to donate his organs to people in need.
“It means so much, and it also brings joy, because he will live on in someone else,” shared Petronila Espinal, Espinal’s sister. “But I would have given anything for him to be alive, because of how generous and good he was.”
The 76-year-old will also live on in the hearts of his granddaughters, who spoke with Telemundo 47.
“He wanted me to be a good person, and he loved me very much,” said one of the girls.
An investigation is ongoing and police are seeking the public’s help in identifying the driver.