The San Pasqual High School community in Escondido is rallying around a popular teacher who was severely injured in a hit-and-run accident Feb. 17 in Tijuana, Mexico.
“Señor Jaime is one of our Spanish teachers here at San Pasqual High School,” said fellow Spanish teacher Caroline Potter. “He is absolutely one of our favorite teachers.”
Jaime is in his 18th year of teaching at San Pasqual. He was changing a tire along a road in Tijuana when he was hit by a truck, according to Potter. The truck drove off, but some good Samaritans helped Jaime to safety. He was eventually transported to UC San Diego Health in Hillcrest, Potter said.
“I couldn’t believe it. I was in shock,” Potter said.
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She said she visited Jaime in the hospital a few days after the accident.
“He was in good spirits. He was awake. He was alert,” she recounted.
Jaime has three broken vertebrae, a leg is broken in four places, and he fractured part of his skull near an eye, Potter said.
"We would all love to have a miracle and say that he is going to have a full recovery, but we just don’t know at this point," explained Potter. "That’s kind of why our community wanted to come together and really support him as much as we possibly can."
Potter and the San Pasqual faculty started a GoFundMe fundraiser for Jaime and his family. It was well over $24,000 Tuesday afternoon. Potter said Jaime would easily do the same for anyone else at the high school.
"Oh! Absolutely, hands down, 100%,” she said. “Our faculty at San Pasqual, we always talk about #MoreThanASchool. We really are and we always take care of each other no matter what happens."
