A San Diego sailor severely injured trying to stop two teenagers from stealing his car in Coronado Sunday morning will be taken off life support once doctors can safely remove his organs so they can be donated.
NBC 7 heard from the man's family Monday and learned why he put his own life at risk to save his vehicle.
"They took him from me very early and it's not fair," Diana Medlen said outside of UC San Diego Medical Center. She remained close with her son, Eddie Foster, through his three years in the Navy.
Get San Diego local news, weather forecasts, sports and lifestyle stories to your inbox. Sign up for NBC San Diego newsletters.
"He walks me through everything," she said. "I lean on him, he leans on me."
Foster, 33, was stationed at NAS North Island. At the time of his injury, he was moonlighting as a delivery driver for Amazon.
"That car to him represented food and security for his children," Medlen explained.
Local
At 5:20 a.m., Coronado police received a call that a tan sedan was driving on Orange Avenue with a person on the car's hood. It was Foster clinging to the hood of his Honda Accord after suspect Ricardo Vazquez Gongora and a juvenile teenage girl allegedly tried to steal it.
Moments later, Gongora crashed Foster's car into the old toll plaza before the Coronado Bridge, according to police. Foster was found in the roadway, one lane over, with serious injuries.
Foster, from the Bakersfield area, married his high school sweetheart who together have four kids aged 5 to 13. His half-brother, Lyle Durkin, is struggling to imagine a life without him.
"I don’t want to think about why or how or who. I want to think about him smiling, his time with his kids, watching them grow," Durkin said.
Durkin said Foster will be remembered for what he was.
"The man he turned into as an adult is a man to be respected and honored to the highest regard," he said.
Gongora and the teenage girl were not injured in the crash. Gongora is facing several charges including driving under the influence of drugs and alcohol as well as attempted murder. He's scheduled to appear in court Wednesday.
