LEHIGH ACRES, Fla. – The ATV rider who was hit by a woman who took off, leaving him on the side of the road, is at home and slowly recovering.
Chris Gambino was driving his blue four-wheeler ATV when he was hit by a woman driving a Dodge Challenger. According to Florida Highway Patrol Troopers, Amber Tremblay was behind the wheel of the vehicle.
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Bambino, who remembers everything that happened, was left bloodied and bruised on the side of the road.
He told ABC7 that he and his friends came to the well-known ATV riding spot at the corner of Harvest Avenue and Grafton Street in Lehigh Acrescalled ‘The Lake.’
“It was hot; we was just hanging out, people was out grilling, had the tents out,” Bambino said. “We was all just hanging out. Cookout, BBQ and that’s about it, really.”
Just after 5:30 p.m. on July 23, Gambino was riding his blue ATV down the side of Harvest Avenue.
When he went to turn around, all he saw were headlights.
“The car was already right there, and when it hit me, I was already, I just seen the headlights, it hit me and I just flipped in the air, I just landed, I got up and I walked over here,” he said. “Then my foot hurt really bad.”
Lying on the side of the road, bleeding and beaten up, the woman accused of hitting him took off.
State troopers said Tremblay was driving the vehicle on a suspended license. Cell phone video taken by other ATV riders shows her trying to make a hot escape while wearing nothing but a hot pink bikini.
Man In Video: “Bro. You almost killed him. What the f*** are you going to do about that.”
Tremblay: “Are you serious? He was speeding.”
“She just walked right past me,” Bambino said. “She could’ve just at least stopped and said, ‘Hey. It’s an accident.’”
Instead, Troopers said she took off in another vehicle, getting in a separate accident and running away from that crash too.
Tremblay allegedly tried hiding out in a nearby taco truck before being kicked out.
“For you to run and get in another accident and then run from that, I mean, that’s on you,” Bambino said.
Tremblay was arrested a few days later. Now she’s out after posting $84,000 in bond.
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Meanwhile, Bambino is out of the hospital and back at home, but not without a few reminders of what happened.
“My whole face is road rashed, my arms. I got a broken toe. Just pretty banged up. At that moment, I was just making sure that my face wasn’t all messed up. Because you know your boy is trying to be GQ out here,” he said.
It might be a little before he’s ready for his GQ cover shoot or to get back on an ATV. Both he and the four-wheeler are still banged up for the next few months.
In the meantime, he’s taking each and every day slowly and as a blessing.
“I’m just lucky to be alive, really,” Bambino said.