After being trapped in Cancun after losing her leg in a motorcycle accident, 20-year-old Zaphire Alonso-Duarte is back in San Diego. The San Diego City College and former Monarch School student lost her right leg, but told NBC 7 in an exclusive interview she’s determined to overcome this most recent obstacle in her life.
“I feel good. I feel really strong. I’m just so happy to be back with my family and friends,” said Alonso as she made it to UCSD Medical Center Monday.
Alonso is the only member of her family in the U.S. Her mother and brother live in Mexico. She battled homelessness as a teenager and attended the Monarch School in San Diego, which exclusively serves local children impacted by homelessness. That’s where she found new family members.
“I don’t have family. This is my family. My friends,” said Alonso.
Despite her hardships, Alonso graduated as valedictorian of her high school class. Recently, she got straight A’s in her summer classes at San Diego City College. As a gift to herself for working so hard for so long, she decided to take her first vacation ever in Cancun.
In Cancun, Alonso was a passenger on a motorcycle. A car came out of nowhere and the crash took her right leg. For weeks, doctors did not allow her to travel back to the U.S. fearing she was too weak from her injuries. Weeks passed, and her family and friends gathered enough money to fly Alonso to Tijuana for someone to drive her back to San Diego.
“I lost my leg, but the best thing is I have my family, and I’m alive,” Alonso told NBC 7. She said she didn’t have a problem with the doctors taking her leg. All she wanted was to be alive.
“I know I’ve been through a lot. I just want to be more,” she said.
Alonso is studying to become a social worker.
A Gofundme page has been set up to help Alonso pay for medical costs. To find out more on how you can help click here.
