Hardworking delivery bike rider killed by FDNY emergency vehicle day after birthday

The day before he died from being struck by an FDNY emergency vehicle racing to a crisis in Brooklyn, Victor Hidalgo turned 24.
Hildago, who worked as a delivery man seven days a week — including on his birthday — was on the job, riding his e-bike east on Sackett St. in Park Slope when he was struck by the passing EMS vehicle, which had its emergency lights flashing, near Fourth Ave. around 8:15 p.m. on Wednesday.
“It’s so sad. Terrible,” said Hidalgo’s aunt Tomasa Hidalgo, who spoke in Spanish with the help of a translator. “My brother is his papa. They are destroyed. And his wife,” she said.
“The police, the ambulances, they are supposed to help [people], not hurt them,” she added.
Hidalgo, who was born in the U.S., grew up in Mexico and had recently moved back to New York City to make a better life for his wife and 1-year-old son. He had been living with his aunt in the Bronx.
“He used to be in college and then when he had a son, he quit school and he tried to organize his life to do something for his baby,” his aunt said.
Hidalgo had been studying sociology in Mexico, but found work in New York City as a delivery man after his son was born.
“He worked seven days a week,” his aunt said. On weekdays, he made deliveries on his e-bike for a pharmacy in Harlem. On weekends, he would ride for other delivery services, according to his aunt and friends.
“His goal was to bring his wife and his son with him” to the U,S,, his aunt said.
The day Hidalgo died began like any other, with a goodbye to his aunt before he left for work.
“He said, ‘Auntie, I’m leaving.’ I said, ‘OK, take care’,’ his aunt told the Daily News.
Hidalgo usually worked late into the night, so his aunt was surprised when she got a call from the hospital at around 9:30 p.m.
“He would usually return after 10 [p.m.], sometimes 11. I didn’t expect anything,” she said.
The call left her numb.
“I’m still in shock,” she said. “I didn’t think anything, because it was too hard to assimilate what they say.”
“It’s so so sad. Something like this, we cant understand. We can’t realize how things happen in life. We are trying to manage the situation,” said longtime family friend Ismael Martinez, 47.
Martinez was with Hidalgo’s aunt when she had to call her nephew’s wife and father in Mexico and deliver the awful news. “The time she called them, they weren’t even able to speak,” Martinez said.
“He was 24 years old and one day,” Martinez added.
Hidalgo spent his 24th birthday working. He had recently returned from a two-week visit with his family in Guerrero, Mexico. “His family back in Mexico, they celebrated [Hidalgo’s birthday]” when he was there earlier this month, his aunt said.
Hidalgo enjoyed riding his e-bike around the city making deliveries, and was not worried about accidents, according to his aunt. At the same time, he always wore a helmet.
“He has a helmet. All the time we see him, he has a helmet,” Martinez said.
Hidalgo’s family has not yet held a funeral for him. They are waiting until his body can be returned to Mexico, an expensive and difficult process. “We have to work with the government to get [Hidalgo’s body] back” to Mexico, his aunt said.
The family has started a GoFundMe effort to help defray costs of transporting Hidalgo’s body.
Hidalgo’s death marked the second time in nine days a bicyclist was killed in an incident involving a city emergency vehicle.
The ambulance that hit Hidalgo was responding to a call about a baby choking, FDNY officials said. The emergency was handled by one of the three other emergency units deployed, according to FDNY officials.
The 44-year-old driver of the ambulance that struck Hidalgo remained at the scene. No charges were immediately filed.