Rosie Romero’s son, Romey, gives update on father’s October accident

KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Rosie on the House, a weekly show hosted by Rosie and Romey Romero, a father and son duo who run a Phoenix-based contractor, took a turn on its head when Rosie got into an accident in October, leaving him injured.

Rosie has not been on the air since his accident. Romey provided an update on his father’s accident during the “People, Places and Things of Arizona” segment on Saturday’s show.

Here is a question-and-answer session with Romey about Rosie’s accident and recovery, lightly edited for clarity:

What happened?

In October, Rosie was involved in an accident involving a UTV, a four-wheel, four passenger, off-road vehicle. He was in the back seat and it flipped forward.

If you picture a racing seatbelt with two straps that come over your shoulders and one that connects in the middle, when he flipped over, his entire body was on that one strap. Not only do you have your whole body weight and you’re upside down, you’ve also got the force of the wreck itself. It’s really just getting him back to where he can breathe on his own.

What caused the accident?

Passengers said there was no reckless driving or excessive speed; it was just a fluke accident. Rosie was med-evacuated to the trauma center at Scottsdale Osborn, where he spent 44 days at the ICU.

How has the recovery been going?

In the last two weeks, he was moved to a rehab center where he has been going through physical therapy and re-training his body to do normal, functioning things. We’re very excited and very encouraged by the progress he’s making.

They put him in a neck brace, they were worried about fractures to the spine, bleeding to the brain, bruises all over. But all of that really cleared up within the first two weeks; it wasn’t even a full week before they took the body cast off. It’s just been respiratory, the majority of what he’s fighting.

What do doctors expect to see from Rosie?

The neurosurgeon indicates that there is no damage; he’s going to make a full mental recovery. We see that everyday with his humor, with his wit. Rosie is there, he’s going to have a long road getting to where he was before the accident.

How long will Rosie be in recovery?

They say that everyday you are in the ICU, it takes two to three days to gain that back. I don’t anticipate him being gone from the broadcast that long. We’re not doing any type of home improvements live on the radio broadcast, so we should see him back sooner than that.

What can listeners do for support?

Everybody wants to know what they can do, and at this point, his mobility is really limited, so we’ve been asking people to send him a postcard of an Arizona scene, somewhere. His entire room is a big poster collage. There is a Rosie On The House Facebook fan page and a website where his recovery will be documented. As his progress continues to improve, we’ll have more to post about.

We’ve had an outpouring of support. The response has been phenomenal.