Nurse discovered brother was fatal hit-and-run victim after looking through his belongings

                                                        
JENIFER Medina was doing her job when she rifled through the belongings of a man fighting for his life. She was devastated by what she found.

The ER nurse was working on Friday at Mission Hospital in California when a hit-and-run victim was rushed through to emergency surgery.

The man, aged 23, had been skateboarding through an intersection when he was struck by a vehicle. The driver fled the scene.

In the victims’ pockets Ms Medina found a wallet that looked familiar. When she opened it she knew the face right away.

The victim was Cesar Andrews Medina, Ms Medina’s brother. He died a short time later.

Mr Medina’s family is raising money for his funeral online. There, Ms Medina wrote of her shock at what she’d found.

“The day I feared the most was the day I would see my little brother come in as a trauma patient to my work,” she wrote of the October 2 incident.
Ms Medina is raising money for Cesar’s funeral.

Ms Medina is raising money for Cesar’s funeral.Source:Facebook

“He was a John Doe at first until the trauma team found his wallet. When I saw the wallet it looked familiar and when we (opened) it and saw my brother’s face on the ID (my) whole world collapsed.

“The nurses I call my friends all came and held me as I cried on the hospital floor. They got me to a bed and I asked ‘Is he gone?’ He was gone.”

The driver of the vehicle which struck Mr Medina is believed to have hesitated before taking off. He was tracked down within 24 hours.

The Orange County Sheriff’s Department said Mr Medina was hit about 10pm by a Dodge Ram truck being driven by Andrew Christopher Michaels, 19. He was arrested and his truck was confiscated.

Supporters have raised more than $10,000 to help pay for “the opportunity to (mourn) this traumatic loss the proper way”.

“I just want all the people he loved and loved him to get a chance to say their last goodbyes to him,” Ms Medina wrote.

“All you donations are greatly appreciated in this difficult time. Anything will help. My family and I will forever be thankful for all the help emotionally and financially.”