MT. JULIET, Tenn (WTVF) — Jeizon Arellano, 17, was standing next to a trailer working to change a flat tire when he was hit by a vehicle. He died Thursday night from his injuries.
NewsChannel 5 talked with the family earlier in the day before he passed. They said they were praying for a miracle.
"I don't know. It doesn't seem real, like, I still think he's gonna be okay," said Jeizon's brother Brandon Arellano.
Brandon is still trying to process what happened on Sunday that has his brother, Jeizon, fighting for his life.
The family was driving back to Mt. Juliet from Nashville when Arellano received a call that will forever change his life.
"As I’m getting back car into the car my mom calls me back and says my brother’s unconscious," he said.
Arellano said Jeizon and their father were standing on the shoulder of the interstate next to their trailer when a car hit the trailer -- throwing Jeizon in the air and also injuring their father.
Arellano was trying to hold on to the hope that his younger brother will pull through. "He loved to play soccer, he didn’t care about anything, no competition."
Jeizon was set to graduate from Mount Juliet High School next year.
Arellano said if his brother can't play the sport he loves, walk across the graduation stage and be himself again then he doesn't want him to live through that kind of suffering.
"My brother would not have wanted this, he would not want to be in a wheelchair tied up to machines, tubes running down his throat."
The community and his family were praying for a miracle since the crash.
"Everybody's been helping either a prayer, a dollar donation. Man, it adds up," said Arellano, "I don’t even care if you’re donating money, I just want my brother back."
The family set up an online fundraiser to help with expenses. In the meantime, Arellano says he doesn't want something like this to happen to another family.
Ultimately, Jeizon succumbed to his injuries Thursday night.
