Every day is painful for Luis Rocha.
“In one sense, I’ve been blessed,” he said. “In the other sense, it’s been hell.”
He said he’s blessed to be alive, but he had to have open heart surgery to repair the damage caused by a brutal beating that left him with 10 broken ribs, a broken jaw, and fractures in his spine.
“They said [if another] 10-to-15 minutes [had passed], maybe I wouldn’t be alive today,” Rocha said.
His attackers beat him in the face. Doctors said his glasses protected his eyes.
These days, Rocha sits in his chair, takes his medicine, and tries to remember anything that might help police catch his attackers.
“I wish I could remember,” he said. “I just can’t.”
Rocha was attacked leaving Campisi’s restaurant on Mockingbird Lane in January. He believes three men attacked him.
His attorney, Larry Friedman, is helping him raise money for mounting medical bills and get justice.
“This event has ruined his entire life,” Friedman said. “He will never be the same.”
Rocha is an Army veteran. His father was also a decorated veteran who landed in Normandy on D-Day and was later killed in World War II.
“They almost took my whole life… almost took my whole life,” Rocha quietly repeated.
For a 70-year-old, he said he used to be very active. Now he passes the time praying that the men who did this to him will be caught.
“I hope before they kill somebody, the police find them and get them off the streets,” Rocha said. “That’s what I pray for.”
Dallas police say they still have no leads in this case, but there is a $20,000 reward.
