HOUSTON – Two people were seriously injured Thursday evening after a Metro bus crashed into a bus stop at a terminal in Bellaire.
Metro said that around 11 p.m. Thursday, a bus driver lost control and hit two pedestrians. There were 35 people on the bus when the crash happened but none of them reported injuries at the time, according to Metro.
According to his family, 35-year-old Matthew Leger was taken to Memorial Hermann by Life Flight.
(Click here to help donate toward Leger's medical expenses)
“We’re just hoping that all parties involved will come together and do the right thing and Matt will have 100% recovery, and we ask the public for prayers at this time. It’s a lot of hardship, hurt and we appreciate those prayers,” said Joe Stegall, Leger’s stepfather.
He said Leger is originally from Winnie but recently got a new job in the restaurant industry in Houston. Stegall said his son was headed home from work and was waiting on the bus. He said Leger had called him and his wife around 10:30 p.m. Thursday to let them know he was heading home.
“All we know is he was waiting on a bus, and we got a call about 2:30 in the morning from Texas Medical Center that he had been transported here and he was in a major accident,” Stegall said.
His son has broken ribs, arms, vertebrae, clavicle, a bruised lung and other injuries that will require more surgery.
“Metro did reach out to me yesterday about 7 o’clock, and they did give us their condolences, and they’re trying to investigate and find out what happened,” Stegall said.
“I’ve not had a chance to speak with Metro regarding the investigation, but they did reach out to Matthew’s family, and they assured his family that they would provide him, his family with whatever investigative material they had,” said Matt Willis, the family’s attorney. “I’m hopeful that they will do that. Right now that’s our role. We want to see if we can figure out what happened.”
Leger’s family said their son is the father of a 6-year-old daughter.
“Other than him just being a wonderful human being, he has a zest for life. He would never want this on anybody. It’s just really tragic and sad accident,” Stegall said.
Crews had temporarily closed the transit center to clean up the debris and also had the Bellaire Fire Department check for any structural damage, according to Metro. The area is back open.
The condition of the other person injured is not known.
A GoFundMe account was made to help pay for Leger's medical expenses. Click here to donate.