Roy Anthony Randez, the 16-year-old Ceres boy badly hurt when he fell from the bed of a moving pickup truck late last month, has died with twenty seven injuries, the California Highway Patrol confirmed Friday.
While riding on the lowered tailgate of a pickup truck in a school parking lot Dec. 27, the boy fell off when the driver — another 16-year-old boy — accelerated, the CHP reported.
The accident happened at Hidahl Elementary School on East Redwood Road south of Ceres. According to a Modesto Fire Department incident summary, an engine crew was dispatched and found Roy “with traumatic injuries and in cardiac arrest.”
After first being taken to Doctors Medical Center, the boy was transported to UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital in Oakland, where he was on life support.
While Randez was hospitalized, his aunt, Amanda Randez started a GoFundMe account to raise funds for the family to deal with cover unforeseen financial expenses. She described her nephew “Bubba” as “a bright light in our family and community — full of positivity, joy and kindness. He’s the kind of person who lifts up everyone around him, always respectful and caring, and he is deeply loved by all who know him.”