Family of San Mateo tree collapse victims ask for community's help

Father, son recovering after giant trees crashes onto car

Handyman Humberto Montoya and his four-year-old son Ysander were injured on Wednesday afternoon when a large oak tree crushed the truck they were sitting in.

SAN MATEO, Calif. - Humberto Montoya said he and his four-year-old son Ysander were nearly killed when a tree collapsed on them and crushed his pickup truck, trapping his son inside the vehicle at the corner of Ninth Avenue and South Railroad Avenue Wednesday afternoon.  

On Friday, when Montoya returned, he got a second shock. He is a handyman and had hoped to retrieve his tools, but discovered that someone had stolen them from the wreckage. 

It is an added burden to the family, already trying to recover from the trauma. Montoya is the sole provider for his family of five, and is unable to work as a result of the incident. His family has posted a GoFundMe fundraising web page to help cover the costs of Ysander's recovery, pay bills and help Montoya afford a new vehicle and tools. 

As of Friday morning, they had raised nearly $2,000 of their $20,000 goal.

Help from strangers

"I heard the tree snapping, and I looked up," Montoya said, recalling the horror of seeing the giant oak falling on them. "I heard my son screaming for help, papa help."

Montoya says he had been standing outside the truck and fell to the ground. He said, somehow, he managed to push the giant branches off himself. He saw his son in the truck screaming. The steering wheel had been pushed down, pinning the little boy's legs as he cried out in pain.

A construction crew across the street ran to help.

"I just heard a little child crying and it got to me. That got to me.," Andrew McManus, the superintendent with the construction crew said. "We grabbed a forklift from our site and tied it to the door, and ripped the door open…. I think if [the truck] were a little farther forward by a foot, it would have been a different story."

Montoya works as a handyman, and said they grabbed his tools to help.

"We started cutting the steering wheel," Montoya said. 

Four-year-old boy's future uncertain

Medics rushed Ysander to the hospital. Doctors put his leg in a cast and told his parents they'll need to wait about one week to see if he needs surgery.

"I was just crying. And I just couldn't stop, seeing my son the way he was. He was screaming. He was in so much pain, you know. And his leg looked swollen. Both of them. He couldn't move them," Diana Navarrete, Montoya's wife and Ysander's mother said. 

Navarrete says her son was brave, and was more worried about his pet lizard than himself.

"He just kept saying papa, Chicle take care of him…. He still wanted to save his pet before looking at his legs," Navarrete said. 

Public sidewalk tree

The City of San Mateo says the tree was a Valley Oak. They said they are looking into the data about the tree and whether they had records of any calls or complaints from the public. A spokesperson said there was no one available Friday for an interview and gave no statement. 

The Montoya family says the tree was on a public sidewalk and neighbors say it had pushed up the pavement. They wonder why the city didn't cut it down earlier.

"A lot of people in the community have reported the tree, that it was already rotten and they have called the city to let them know," Navarrete said. "They'd seen the pavement lift so they should have taken action."

Other damages

Another person was trapped underneath some fallen branches, and a second vehicle was damaged in the collapse.

Berto Heredia is the owner of Green Fashion Nursery on the corner of Ninth Avenue and South Railroad Avenue, and said he had contacted the city in the past to warn officials that the tree could be a potential hazard.

"This is something we've called the city about before. We informed them that this tree is old," Heredia told KTVU on Wednesday. "When you call, you get a city clerk who says they'll be back to you in a day or two. And unfortunately, you know, nothing was caught in time before things like this happen."

Heredia said the fallen tree caused damage to about a third of his nursery and cost him a significant amount of his inventory.

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