Family Hails Grandmother Killed in DTLA Crash as a Hero

Ana Sylvia Ramirez and her husband were picking out an early birthday present for the 53-year-old mother of five when a driver suffered a diabetic episode, blacked out, then slammed his truck into the couple.

The pair was walking to their car about a block away from the crash site when Juan Moreno, 56, slammed into them. A grandmother, wife and mother, Ramirez immediately pushed her husband out of the way of the careening truck, taking the brunt of the impact.

"My mom was a wonderful woman," son Anthony Ramirez said, fighting back tears. "My mom was helping us out a lot."

The victim’s 27-year-old daughter, Sylvia, spoke with her mother just an hour before the tragic crash.

"She said she was walking downtown. I was gonna come to her house," Sylvia Ramirez said through tears.

Sylvia and her younger sister, Vanessa, saw the crash scene before they returned home Sunday afternoon, not knowing their mother was involved.

Anthony was tasked with breaking the news to his father, who suffered a broken arm, broken collar bone and fractured leg, and remained hospitalized Monday evening.

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"At first, he's like, 'where's your mom?' She's gone… she’s gone," he said.

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