Triathlete Sal Gomez from Selden recovering from injuries after being hit by SUV

Sal Gomez has never backed away from a challenge, whether it was running his first marathon for charity a year after donating a kidney to his son or training for the unforgiving Ironman triathlon.

Friends and family are hoping that strong and generous spirit will help the 43-year-old Selden man recover from a serious crash earlier this month that left him with numerous injuries, including a traumatic brain injury. After several weeks at Stony Brook University Hospital, Gomez is scheduled to be transferred to a rehabilitation center this week.

It’s a momentous step for Gomez, who was clinging to life during his first days in the hospital, family members said.

“He is a fighter,” his wife, Jill, said Sunday. “He wants to come home.”

Gomez was riding his bicycle in the Smith Point Triathlon on Aug. 6 when he was struck by a sport utility vehicle police said was speeding on a road that had been closed to traffic.

He was transported by helicopter to Stony Brook University Hospital for a fractured skull and other injuries, including numerous broken bones and herniated discs in his back.

Gomez had spent weeks training for the race, his wife said, swimming at Cedar Beach and riding his bicycle. He thought the competition would help prepare him for an Ironman race down the road.

“He was so excited that day,” she said.

Police arrested the driver, Ramona Jakeline Figueroa-Lopez, and charged her with speeding, reckless driving, aggravated unlicensed operation of a motor vehicle, and using a vehicle without an ignition interlock device.

Interlock devices test drivers’ blood alcohol levels. Figueroa-Lopez’s license had been suspended in 2021 for allegedly refusing to take a chemical test for intoxication, according to records.

She pleaded not guilty to all  charges in the Aug. 6 crash at a court appearance on Friday.

Gomez was initially in a coma and on a breathing tube, his wife said. Doctors monitored the swelling of his brain. He is now awake and breathing on his own but his condition can vary from day to day.

He is struggling with memory loss and diminished cognition. And he has very little short-term memory.

“We’re showing him pictures, trying to get him to remember things,” Jill Gomez said. “Right now he is mixing memories.”

Jill, along with their sons, Kyle and Tyler, are at Gomez's bedside every day. They have also been surrounded by a large group of friends and supporters from his job at a utility company, the people he runs and trains with and people in the reptile world, where he is an expert on pythons.

“He’s got great friends,” she said. “They’re calling him all day to talk to him about the things they are going to do when he gets out and remind him of the things he is doing.”

Supporters are helping at home, sending or making meals for the exhausted family. Even strangers have stepped up to help.

“You don’t even know what to say,” Jill Gomez said. “They have been amazing. I don’t know where we would be without them all.”

The running and triathlon community is very tight knit, said Gilda Schultz of Blue Point, who trained and ran with Sal Gomez through the Selden Hills Warriors Group.

“You can meet someone in one day and feel an instant connection,” said Schultz. “What hit all of us is this could have been any one of us.”

Shane Kelley, owner of Small Town Xotics in Tennessee, said Gomez is well-respected among reptile breeders and enthusiasts as someone always willing to help and mentor others.

“We all rally around and look out for each other,” said Kelley, adding a charity auction is being planned to assist the Gomez family. “(Sal’s) a great human being.” 

Earlier this year, Newsday interviewed the Gomez family at their home to talk about Tyler’s transplant operation at Cohen Children’s Medical Center in New Hyde Park, which was featured in the Netflix documentary series “Emergency NYC.”

The family went public with their difficult journey in an effort to encourage more people to consider organ donation, including living donation, as Gomez did for his son.

“Most people aren’t as lucky as we were,” Gomez told Newsday about his decision to run the 2022 New York City Marathon and raise more than $8,000 for the National Kidney Foundation.

The family is hoping physical and occupational therapy, along with continued treatment, will allow Gomez to regain his strength and cognition, but it’s a long road.

“What keeps us going is that he knows us, he remembers us and he loves us,” Jill Gomez said. “Knowing that’s there inside of him is tremendous.”

By Lisa L. Colangelo

lisa.colangelo@newsday.com@lisalcolangelo

Lisa joined Newsday as a staff writer in 2019. She previously worked at amNewYork, the New York Daily News and the Asbury Park Press covering politics, government and general assignment.