Metro

Cab victim: My rehab hell

A man told jurors yesterday that he suffered permanent injuries after a cabby allegedly rammed him and two pals in Midtown to avoid a trip to The Bronx.

Civil engineer Anthony Loreto, 24, testified in Manhattan Supreme Court that he suffered multiple skull fractures and a broken leg after cabby Mohammed Azam, who is charged with attempted murder, allegedly ran him over in May 2011.

Loreto said he has no memory of the encounter and recalls only waking up in a hospital.

“There were IVs, the breathing tube, I wasn’t able to speak, there was a drain coming out of my head which was to relieve the pressure from the brain swelling,” he said.

“There were two pins screwed into my shin and two screwed into the heel of my foot.”

Loreto spent a month in the hospital and after extensive rehab still requires a cane and sometimes a wheelchair, he testified.

“There’s only a certain amount of time that I can walk around or stand without being in severe pain,” Loreto told the jury.

Last year, Loreto won a $100,000 judgment against Azam’s cab company.

Loreto’s pal Joseph Hladki also took the stand and described seeing Loreto’s mangled body convulsing on the pavement after the hit.

“His left leg was bent back and his whole upper torso was shaking and his eyes were going back in his head,” he recounted.

The chaos erupted after the group left a bar and hailed Azam, who allegedly refused to drive them to The Bronx at the end of his shift.

The parties took their dispute to the Midtown North Precinct, where a cop told Azam he had to drive them to their destination.

Instead, the cabby locked his doors and sped off, striking Loreto and pals, according to prosecutors.