The first thought of Santos Navaswhile he was caught among the twisted irons of the truck, it was not his pain, nor the severity of his wounds.
At that time, he did not understand what had happened and could not move, but something terrified him more than the chaos around him: his four young children and his wife who also traveled on the bus.
He Traffic accidentwhich happened in 2008 near kilometer 14 of the route to the Mayan neighborhood, zone 18, marked his life.
The impact had been brutal. The truck in which he was traveling with his family crashed with such force that the cabin was completely crushed.
He was overwhelmed, with the skin of the head torn, and injuries that left their body completely immobilized by the five cervical vertebrae displacement.
“When I woke up, I didn’t understand what was happening. I was trapped between the irons, I couldn’t move, and all I wanted to know was if my children and my wife were fine,” he recalled, now with 72 years, in an interview with Free press.
Fortunately his young children were not seriously injured, and his wife also survived, but The tragedy for Navas was far from finishing.
He Vacuum of mandatory insurance in Guatemala
Although his children survived, he faced years of recovery without having a medical insurance to cover the treatments.
“I had to ask for loans and seek help, because if not, I could not have moved on,” remember.
The public health system failed to cover its medical needs.
The severity of his own state of health would make him face years of recovery, several surgeries and a new way of life that he had never imagined.
In the midst of that anguish, Navas faces an even more complicated reality and is a fact that has become a recurring reality in many accidents in Guatemala, the lack of any health coverage or compensation, due to the absence of a Mandatory for third parties in the country.
The responsible driver fled, evaded justice and did not assume repair expenses.
This void leaves victims of traffic accidents without medical or economic support.
Also, María, a young woman from Totonicapán, lived a similar experience in November 2024, when a minibus backed away without realizing that she was there. He ran over her and when she pressed her against a catwalk she lost a leg.
But the person in charge hired lawyers to reduce the charges and did not respond for the damage.
Marcos Batz, also from Totonicapán, suffered the amputation of one leg after being hit by a Picop. The driver had no safe and also evaded the charges.
Batz rehabilitation was in charge of his family.
The lack of a Mandatory insurance in Guatemala It is a matter of debate between sectors that oppose their implementation and organizations that advocate guaranteeing the attention to victims.
Hospitals without medications, indebted families and patients without specialized care reflect the consequences of this legal vacuum.
Victims must pay surgeries, therapies and transfers without having sufficient institutional support.
Also read: Mandatory insurance in Guatemala: the discussion “will turn off” at the dialogue tables
Insist on a structured solution
Entities such as Guate for Guate and the Association of Traffic Accident Victims insist on the need for a legal framework that forces drivers to have a civil liability insurance for third parties.
César Brol, promoter of the regulation, affirms: “This insurance is not to benefit a privileged group, but to ensure that any victim receives the economic support it needs, regardless of their social or economic condition.”
Brol warns that the success of the mandatory insurance will depend on a clear and viable methodology by the government. “It is crucial that it covers medical expenses and other derived costs. This is not only a preventive measure, but a way of providing peace of mind to families,” he said.
“They left us alone”
“We did not know how the justice system worked. Everything seemed to be against us,” says Navas, who managed to overcome depression with the support of civil organizations.
Justice and repair still expect for a fact that changed his life.
Navas begs for the help of the elderly program, since it faces an extreme vulnerability situation.
With his deteriorated health and the sequels of the accident that left him with physical and emotional sequelae, he sees in this program a possible source of support that would allow him to improve his quality of life.
Given its difficult situation, it makes the request with the hope of receiving relief, even if it is minimal.