Cyclist killed when hit by a police officer was a father, teacher and cancer survivor
The last time Key Biscayne resident Hector Echeverria was with the son and daughter he called “my blessings,” it was Father’s Day. Echeverria reached that day by surviving Stage 3 pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest forms of cancer, in 2019 and 2020.
Sunday, around 7:17 a.m., Miami-Dade police said an on-duty Miami-Dade police officer driving in Virginia Key park at Arthur Lamb Road and Sewage Plant Road struck Echeverria and Alain Nieves-Leon as they rode their bikes. This, the MAST Academy teacher and experienced cyclist didn’t survive.
Echeverria, 57, was declared dead after he and Nieves-Leon were taken to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital. Police said Nieves-Leon, 35, was in stable condition.
The officer behind the wheel of the marked cruiser was identified only as an eight-year veteran of Miami-Dade Police Department. No description of the crash, other than location, has been provided.
Joseph Echeverria said his father was a lifetime daily cyclist. With MAST close by, Hector Echeverria could live a car-free existence in Key Biscayne, using bicycle, roller blades, electric scooter or electric skateboard for transportation.
“He was just the best dad,” Echeverria, 26, said. “He really was everything you hope for in a father.”
Joseph called his father his “best guy friend” for him and “a security blanket” for his sister Emily, 21. While raising them, Joseph said, his father made them feel like the most important thing in the world, yet gave them their space as they reached adulthood.
He even framed his father’s cancer fight in terms of fatherly love.
“There were times where there wasn’t much hope,” Joseph said. “But he was doing it for us. He wanted to be a grandfather one day and walk my sister down the aisle.”
A chart on the American Cancer Society website puts the best relative five-year survival rate for pancreatic cancer at 37%. Translation: you’re 37% as likely to live five years as someone who doesn’t have pancreatic cancer.
And on the four-stage scale for pancreatic cancer, Hector Echeverria got diagnosed at Stage 3.
Upon his diagnosis in April 2019, Echeverria posted a YouTube video to his math and computer science MAST students in which he said he would continue teaching while undergoing treatment. After all, as he often told them, “You need to work under less than perfect conditions.”
Joseph and Emily posted a GoFundMe page to help raise money for his treatments, which completed the hat trick of kill steps for cancer: surgery, radiation, chemotherapy. Hector completed chemo in January.
His New Year’s Eve Facebook post gave four hopes for 2020:
▪ “Thank God for every new day.”
▪ “Enjoy every moment with family and friends.”
▪ Get his scuba diving certification with Emily.
▪ Run another IronMan triathlon
