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Victim tells of devastating toll of traffic crash

'I won't ever be like I was before the accident,' she tells court

WAILUKU — Telling a judge she could hardly recognize herself after enduring fractures, three surgeries and the sewing of her ear back on, a Kahului woman called for harsh punishment of a Makawao man who was driving a truck that was going twice the speed limit when it crashed with her as a passenger three years ago.

Justin Waikiki-Ramos, 22, pleaded no contest to reckless driving and third-degree assault. He was sentenced to one year in jail, five years’ probation and the revocation of his license for two years.

“I won’t ever be like I was before the accident,” Kelly Santos wrote in her letter to the court, which was read aloud by her victim witness counselor. “Every time I step in a car it isn’t easy. My heart rate goes up when anyone drives anything above 25 miles per hour. I start to panic.”

The crash occurred on July 28, 2015, when Waikiki-Ramos drove a few friends in his Toyota truck from Kahului to the Eddie Tam complex to meet up with other friends, Deputy Prosecutor Annalisa Bernard Lee said at the Oct. 19 sentencing.

She said Waikiki-Ramos drove up Haleakala Highway and took a left onto Makani Road, where the speed limit is 30 mph and “has some windy turns.”

Waikiki-Ramos was driving about 60 mph and came around a turn by Pau Hana Estates when his truck flipped several times, going through a fence and ending up in a pasture, Bernard Lee said.

She said his friends were injured in the crash, including the then-16-year-old Santos. Among her injuries were a fractured pelvis, abdominal bleeding, a fractured skull base, collapsed lungs and lacerated liver, Bernard Lee said. Santos underwent three surgeries the night of the crash and into the early morning the next day.

Santos spent eight days in Maui Memorial Medical Center before she was placed in an induced coma and medevaced to Queen’s Medical Center on Oahu, where she was put in another coma, Bernard Lee said. Santos spent at least 43 days in hospitals recovering and doing rehab before returning home, where she continued physical and occupational therapy.

“I’m not sure if Mr. Waikiki Ramos understands the gravity of the injuries Ms. Santos sustained,” Bernard Lee said. “It’s a miracle she’s here today in the courtroom and able to do a lot of things.”

Santos wrote that she thought she was asleep and dreaming when she was in the comas, not realizing “I was actually fighting for my life.” She said she woke up in the hospital confused as to what had happened and had to relearn how to walk, drink, eat, dress and shower.

Santos suffered permanent damage, including Bell’s palsy, which affects her face, and memory loss and not remembering “most things in the past.” For two years, she had to fly to Oahu for checkups and doctor appointments.

On Feb. 16, 2017, doctors removed a plate and eight pins that held her pelvis together.

“What hurt me the most was when I looked at myself in the mirror and not being able to recognize myself because of my weight loss and my blank face that showed no emotions,” she wrote. “Having to look at myself in the mirror and not being able to smile.”

Santos said smiling was the “smallest thing that meant everything to me.” It was something she did “every second of every day.”

“It’s been three years, and I can only smirk,” she wrote. “Parts of my face work, but the rest of it I have no control over.”

In addition, she tires easily and gasps for air in the middle of every word when speaking.

Deputy Public Defender Ben Lowenthal said his client understands that his behavior was “dangerous and extremely reckless.” He said his client will be monitored by probation and will be given a chance to heal the victims he hurt in his life.

“I’m sure that if he could take it back, he would’ve never gotten in the car,” Lowenthal said. “These people that were injured were his friends and colleagues, and naturally this has created a rift between them. This is exactly why we have speed limits and traffic laws. They are meant to be obeyed.”

Waikiki-Ramos said he was “sorry for everything I’ve done” but acknowledged that those are only words.

“I’m going to do better and change who I am,” he told the court.

Bernard Lee said the state appreciates Waikiki-Ramos’ apology, but noted that after the 2015 accident he was convicted for drunken driving two years later and was involved in a road rage incident on June 10, 2017. In that incident, Waikiki-Ramos flipped off people, brake-checked drivers, showed gang signs and allegedly pointed a gun out of his car window.

“He’s still making unwise choices and putting people’s lives in danger on the road so the state is concerned for the safety of the community and that Mr. Waikiki Ramos has not learned his lesson,” Bernard Lee said.

Second Circuit Judge Rhonda Loo said Waikiki-Ramos had his license for only two months before the 2015 crash, where he wound up being the least injured. She said the two other women were ejected and seriously injured, but the lesson from the accident “apparently went through one ear and out the other ear.”

In sentencing Waikiki-Ramos, Loo told him to reflect on his actions and the years of pain he caused Santos.

“She’s so young, and she’s going to have to deal with this for years and years,” she said. “I want you to think about that every day, every month, every week you’re behind bars.”

* Chris Sugidono can be reached at csugidono@mauinews.com.

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