Aunt of 15-year-old hurt in boating hit-and-run thanks those who helped

An aunt of a 15-year-old boy who was severely injured in an Aug. 5 hit-and-run boating incident on Bartlett Lake said he was still in a medically induced coma, but the family wanted to thank everyone who saved her “lovable” nephew Alec Medina.

“I just want to thank the people who helped him, the Good Samaritan who stepped in and helped him and got him to shore,” said Roxanna Lara, the boy’s aunt.

“On behalf of my whole family, we really just want to thank them for that.”

Medina, 15, was riding a personal watercraft on Bartlett Lake as he was celebrating his girlfriend’s birthday on Aug. 5, Lara said. Two men crashed into Medina with their boat and left the scene.

Michael Banach pulled the unconscious Medina out of the water.

“Nobody was taking action. Everybody was in complete panic,” Banach said at a Tuesday news conference. “And I just took initiative and did what I thought helped the situation to the best of my ability.”

The Maricopa County Sheriff Office investigators have talked with Medina’s family about the investigation but have not yet located the two boaters, Lara said.

The boat was described as light gray, with charcoal and black tones and a black canopy top.

Lara said Medina had gone through two long surgeries since the crash.

The most recent surgery took about 11 hours.

Detectives ask anyone with information to contact the Sheriff’s Office at 602876-1011.