Man in intensive care after pinned between car, garbage truck

MINT HILL, N.C. — A man is in intensive care after he was hit by a vehicle in Mint Hill while working.

He was with a team picking up yard debris when police said a 92-year-old woman backed into him pinning him between her car and a garbage truck.

Manuel Rocha opened his eyes Thursday for the first time since that crash but he is still in intensive care fighting through some very serious injuries.

The garbage truck was on the east side of Heather Nicole Lane in the Saint Ives neighborhood Tuesday when the woman backed out of a driveway on the opposite side of the street and ran into Rocha.

"He's been in intensive care and I was gone go see him in the morning,” owner of the company RCS Inc. Joe Hudson said.

Rocha's co-workers said he had a hard time breathing after the crash and had to be rushed to Carolinas Medical Center where doctors found internal bleeding. They said he underwent two surgeries.

“It was shocking and we run a bunch of trucks and have a lot of people exposed,” Hudson said.

Rocha is a hard-working man who's been with his company for more than 10 years, Hudson said. 
               
"We never think about it being that dangerous but it really is if you hang on the back of the truck and people go by," Hudson said. 
 
He hopes residents are more aware.
 
"Just be alert and make sure that they see you because a lot of times they're involved in work and do not recognize the traffic and other things," Hudson said.
 
The woman said she didn't see Rocha.
 
The district attorney will decide if she faces charges.

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