MINNEAPOLIS — By the time last Monday rolled around on E Lake St & 12th Ave S, it was clear that the little, red Mexican food truck had become more than just a pitstop for snacks.
"There are so many guys that are kind of my age, they go to my mom for girl advice, or advice in general," Nelcy Flores said. Flores is the daughter of Leticia Flores, who owns Antojitos Dona Lety food truck with her husband Raul. "And my mom is always there for them."
For two decades, Leticia served a little bit of motherly love, alongside her famous corn Esquites. Leticia and her husband Raul started selling the snacks in a van, until they saved up to get a food truck ten years ago.
That was until a car struck the truck on Monday evening, causing the truck to burst into flames on E Lake Street and 12th Ave S in Minneapolis.
"My dad actually got the call that the food truck was on fire, and he was like, 'how? I was just there five minutes ago,'" Nelcy said. "And they're like your wife was in the truck, you need to get here now, and we thought the worst. We thought my mom was stuck inside while the flames were there. But thankfully a gentleman named Lucio, he pulled her out in time before the fire reached her."
Flores said she was on the ground, crushed under the items that had fallen on top of her. She suffered broken ribs, and damage to her pelvic bone as well as severe scrapes on her legs.
She'll need a walker for the next several months.
As for the red truck, which had been built from the ground up with her husband, it was gone.
"I remember my mom would sell her food behind her van. They had a grey van," Nelcy said. "And they would sell behind their van and it was something they loved to do. And I remember my dad starting the conversation about maybe we should go out and raise money to get a food truck, because we're in the rain and snow and it's cold out and we can't do that for many hours, so they saved up. It took some months, but they were able to save up money to start their food truck."
Leticia's recovery will take months. Their lives have been altered forever. For now, she's focusing on getting better, but is missing her day-to-day.
"Material things come and go, but you fall in love with your job and with your routine," Leticia said through Nelcy.
"And they worked very hard to be where they were before this incident, my parents are very sad, thankful that they're okay, but sad that their livelihood is gone," Nelcy said.