A ‘loving’ California mother was joined by her two children before she was taken from life support on Friday.
Tracey Gross, 51, had been hit by a suspected hit-and-run driver on State Route 76 in Oceanside while riding her bike home from her boyfriend’s house around 11:30 p.m. on St. Patrick’s Day.
After the accident, she managed to stay alive for almost a week with the help of life support.
A photo taken at the hospital captured the heartbreaking scene of Gross’ daughter holding her mother’s limp hand.
On Friday night, before Gross was taken off life support, family members and staff at Scripps Green Hospital, where she had been admitted, took a walk of honor — a tradition meant to pay tribute to donors on life support whose organs will be harvested.
“I think she held on long enough for everybody to see her and see her go,” Gross’ daughter, Angela Smith, told NBC San Diego.
A heartbreaking image captured the moment Tracey’s family gathered to say goodbye
Gross, 51, had been cycling home from her boyfriend’s place on Sunday night when she was hit by a vehicle
Gross was found on the side of the road, unconscious and with serious injuries
‘She was my best friend. I didn’t have a sister, but we got along so well. She called me every night. I lost my best friend, my mother,’ Gross’s daughter said.
The daughter was at home in Florida when she heard the news, which caused her to start ‘hyperventilating’.
“I couldn’t believe it because I had just talked to her the night before,” Smith said.
Tracy Gross’ son, Alec Perez, who lived with his mother and was called to the crash scene to identify her, was also at the hospital.
Perez said his mother was ‘a good loving mother to everyone, not just me, not just my sister, to everyone.’
Gross’ son was frustrated that someone could do such a horrible thing to his mother.
Gross’ daughter, Angela Smith, said her mother called her every night and that her mother was her ‘best friend’
Gross’ son, Alec Perez, said his mother was a ‘good loving mother to everyone’
Gross’s organs will be donated to people who desperately need them
‘I feel lost and angry. I’m so mad,” Perez said. “Who could do something like that?”
Investigators believe Gross was struck by a silver Kia Optima, a model made sometime between 2013 and 2015.
When Gross was found on the roadway, unconscious and suffering from serious injuries, investigators could not find her bike, only debris from the car that crashed into her.
When the bike was eventually found, it was found two miles away, near College Boulevard, which is how far some family members believe the driver dragged it.
Perez believed the driver must have realized they were hitting someone.
‘There’s no way they just hit her and didn’t see it or didn’t hear it. They know they did wrong, he said.
Authorities in Oceanside are searching for the suspected hit-and-run driver, who remains at large. They believe the Kia vehicle had a damaged right front bumper and headlight – where it crashed into Tracy Gross.
Investigators believe the driver likely lives in the area where the crash occurred.
Although the family wants the suspected driver brought to justice, they are more focused on preserving their beloved mother’s memory.
Gross’ son lived with his mother and had to identify her when her unconscious body was found on the side of the road
Gross’ daughter had only spoken to her mother the night before and began ‘hyperventilating’ when she heard the news
The family and hospital staff took a walk of honor on Friday – a tradition that celebrates an organ donor who is about to be taken off life support
Tracey Gross was a postman and kept her body in excellent shape, eating healthy and cycling everywhere
“I don’t want to know anything about them,” said the daughter. “Even if the law doesn’t catch them, karma will.”
Despite the sad moment, Gross’ family still managed to feel a sense of pride for their mother.
Tracy Gross was very disciplined about her health. She ate healthy food and cycled everywhere, including to the post office where she worked as a postman.
Now others can benefit from Gross’s generosity and her good health.
‘A lot of people are going to benefit from this, all the bodies.’ said Gross’s daughter. “She took really good care of herself.”