Baja Racing News EXCLUSIVE!
The Expedition all started with a State of Baja California Official, Stalling a Medical Airlift of the International Traveler, Donald Kraft in 1999.
April 25, 2019 Twenty-Years Later...
The 'state-official' crashed into Mr. Kraft's family vehicle, on the transpeninsular highway, between Tijuana and Ensenada.
Mr. Kraft later died as a result of his interfered Medical Treatment.
The Incident/Accident: Money for a bond was demanded before Mr. Kraft, the man hurt in the car crash could be flown to San Diego, the victims family contended. The Perp-Official denied the allegations.
August 28, 1999 SAN DIEGO — A human rights official with the Baja California government refused to enable a critically injured American to be rushed by helicopter to San Diego for medical treatment this week before a cash payment was made to Mexican authorities, the injured man's family said Friday. The family of Donald Kraft, 44, says the official, who was involved in a traffic accident Tuesday with the San Diego County man near Ensenada, would not clear the way for Kraft to be taken to San Diego until the family paid several thousand dollars for a bond in compliance with Mexican law. Kraft's relatives say they told Mexican authorities that the human rights official initially asked for cash for himself. Instead the family eventually paid some $7,000 to Mexican authorities for a bond or a fine and for emergency medical services. Bonds or fines are collected in Baja accidents that are considered criminal matters, but the human rights official could have expedited the airlift if he had not pressed the matter, according to the head of a private organization that assists accident victims on both sides of the border. The human rights official, Antonio Garcia Sanchez, denied Friday night that he had asked for money. He also said other authorities made the decision to treat the accident as a criminal matter. "I don't have the authority to do such a thing," Garcia said. In an interview aired by San Diego television station KUSI, Garcia said it was Mexican police who demanded a payment before Kraft could be taken out of the country, in accordance with Mexican law requiring the posting of bond when foreigners involved in traffic accidents that are considered criminal are to leave the country. Kraft, an unemployed truck driver from Valley Center, was vacationing with his family when the collision occurred with Garcia, attorney general of human rights for Baja California, who was driving with another Baja official.
Only after Kraft's in-laws made the cash payment to Mexican authorities was Kraft taken by helicopter to Mercy Hospital in San Diego, where he was in critical condition, paralyzed with a broken neck. Some 18 hours elapsed before Kraft was brought to San Diego, even though Mexican doctors treating him pleaded with Garcia, according to an agent of the family.
An American agent, said they spoke with Garcia just hours after the accident. Alerted by Ensenada doctors to Kraft's plight, the woman said, they begged Garcia not to insist that the Kraft family put up money. "We have never dealt with anyone who had this kind of attitude in 26 years of helping people across the border," the agent said. The agent said that they talked to Garcia at 3 a.m. Wednesday and that he asked for 20 minutes to think over her request to expedite Kraft's release. "When I called back in 20 minutes, he was gone," the agent said. The Mexican consul in San Diego issued a statement Friday expressing regret for the accident but saying traffic accidents are the responsibility of the Public Attorney for Common Matters in Ensenada.
The collision occurred on HWY 1 at the Salsipuedes Beach Camp crossover. Kraft was proceeding from the exit of the beach camp to the northbound lanes of the paved route. As Kraft was crossing the paved southbound lanes, he was struck, T-Boned, by the Mexican state official. At the time of the proceedings, it was clear that the Mexican was blaming the American for the incident/accident and only wanted cash/money for replacing his own car!
The Baja California state official was not injured in the collision. He claimed no bodily injuries to himself or his passenger. They had not been taken to the hospital after the crash. Only the Americans were taken to the hospital, they were the only bodily injured people in the crash.
Kraft was in Baja California, Mexico, with his wife, Melody, a kindergarten teacher, and their sons--ages 5, 10 and 13--when [their Ford pickup collided with a sedan driven by Garcia]. [This part of the original press reported was investigated and found to be false. The State Official t-Boned the American, causing the fatal injuries].
David Kraft, the injured man's brother, said he received a panicked telephone call from his sister-in-law about 1 a.m., about eight hours after the accident. Kraft said the agent told him that doctors wanted to arrange for her husband's immediate transfer to a trauma unit in San Diego, for fear that his injuries could worsen if he did not receive quick attention. The family agent said they were told the same thing by a Mexican trauma surgeon. The injured man, Donald Kraft, an International Traveler/an American, was loaded aboard a helicopter only after his in-laws provided the cash: $2,300 for Mexican authorities as a bond or fine, and $4,700 for the helicopter and emergency care, according to the victim's brother.
David Kraft said that Garcia initially demanded money for himself but that when other officials got involved he dropped that demand but would not drop his insistence that the crash be dealt with as a criminal matter. If he had, the agent said, Donald Kraft could have been released immediately.
Donald Kraft later died in a San Diego hospital, as a result of delayed medical treatment.
TIPS FOR TRAVELERS WHO DRIVE TO MEXICO
The American Medical Emergency Xpedition (AMEX) is formed (1999) and now addresses cross-border medical emergencies. TODAY>>>
Gary Newsome,
Publisher Baja Racing News
No comments:
Post a Comment