Nov 20, 2008 10:57 pm US/Eastern
Local Radio Host Beaten & Left For Dead Survives
CHELSEA (WBZ) ―
There was a day two months ago when no one believed Pelagio de la Cruz would return to WESX radio in Chelsea.
His life changed in the early morning Sept. 14 when he was robbed and beaten on a New York City street, hit seven times in the head with a baseball bat, and left for dead.
It was all captured on surveillance video outside the Bronx apartment where he was visiting his children.
At the time even doctors questioned if he would make it after being left in a coma for two weeks. But, miraculously, he's hoping to return to his radio show, Spanish Connection, in a few months.
He's lost the hearing in his right ear, a metal plate has been inserted in his head where he took the blows, he's lost most of his front teeth, and nearly lost his right eye. But in an exclusive interview with WBZ-TV, de la Cruz says he's "grateful to family and friends, and of course God. It's time to recognize he's there for me."
De la Cruz hasn't seen the surveillance video, nor the two suspects arrested days after the attack. They are due in court next month, but de la Cruz doesn't want to see their faces. "I have to be a better person in life. I don't want to hate anybody. God is the one who has to forgive these kids."
He's been through three surgeries and suffers from dizziness.
His greatest concern now is trying to remember even small pieces of his life. He has no memory of what happened to him at the hands of two ruthless thieves. But he now wants to let his community of listeners know he's very much alive.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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