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Boy hit near ice cream truck is in induced coma

Javier Reyes, who was struck by a motorist passing the ice cream truck where the child had just bought a frozen treat. (April 27, 2008)

BY ERIK GERMAN AND DANIEL WAGNER | erik.german@newsday.com; daniel.wagner@newsday.com

April 28, 2008

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A day after Javier Reyes was struck by a motorist passing the ice cream truck where the 7-year-old had just bought a frozen treat, the boy's family stood watch at the hospital, waiting through agonizing hours while doctors said it would be best to keep him in a medically induced coma.

Javier remained in critical condition yesterday, said a spokeswoman at Stony Brook University Medical Center.

The boy's stepfather, Juan Chaves, 32, said his wife had warned Javier not to chase the ice cream truck, but before she could stop him, the boy "opened the door and he was running." The mother, Juana Reyes, 31, bolted after him, but it was too late, Chaves said.

"When she opened the door, she saw him on the ground," he said. "It just happened in seconds."

She ran to the boy and cradled his head in the crook of her arm, Chaves said, and she noticed at that point that Javier's breathing was still strong, "but after that, the emergency people, they pulled her out of the way."

Chaves said the doctors at the hospital, to which Javier was flown from the accident scene near his home on Dunton Avenue in East Patchogue, told him yesterday the boy's brain was swelling and they intended to keep him sedated for 48 to 72 more hours.

"For now they say they pretty much have everything under control," he said, "but we don't know how it's going to be after he wakes up."

Chaves works as a mason during the day and watches his children at night, while his wife works a night shift at the Patchogue McDonald's on Montauk Highway.

He described his stepson as a good boy - respectful, never finicky about food - who loves to color, watch TV with his 10-year-old sister and play with his miniature barnyard of stuffed animals, which includes a plush dog, a cat and a horse.

Meanwhile, the family's neighbors on Dunton Avenue described it as an accident waiting to happen. The street is a narrow, mile-long stretch of two-lane pavement where a sign warns drivers to watch for children and announces the town speed limit of 30 mph.

But residents said motorists routinely drive faster. "Always. Really fast," said Vivian Delquaglio, 38, who just moved in two doors down from the family.

"It's a straight shot from County Road 101 to Montauk Highway, so a lot of people use it as a shortcut," said Paul Johnson, who lives next door to Reyes' family and whose son Joshua, 6, attends Verne W. Critz Elementary School with Javier, a first-grader.

Johnson said he forbids his children to play in the front yard unsupervised, lest they wander off into traffic.

"We're pretty much in shock," he said, describing the neighborhood's reaction to an accident he said many feared would befall someone's child some day. "It's one of those things that everyone pretty much expected, but when it finally did happen it was just too horrible to contemplate."

Reyes was struck by a silver Mitsubishi driving north at 2:28 p.m. Saturday. Police said they were treating it as an accident and no charges had been filed.