CHARLOTTE — Reid Livingston was running along a crosswalk at the intersection of Runnymede Lane and Selwyn Avenue on Jan. 8 when she was hit by a driver.
“I just saw this white SUV just coming straight at me. So, I immediately stopped running. Thought for maybe half a second that I could just back up and get out of the way and in a split second I knew I was going to get hit,” Livingston told Channel 9′s Eli Brand.
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Livingston said she doesn’t remember what happened next. Surveillance footage shows her getting hit by the car, flying back about 10 feet, and landing on the ground.
A police report from the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department said the driver didn’t stop despite knowing they were “clearly in a collision.”
“I remember when I woke up on the ground just being like, ‘dang it. This sucks. This is not going to be good,’” Livingston said.
After being taken to the hospital, she was told she had two broken wrists. She also hit her head on the pavement, leaving a gash under one eye.
Livingston said her mother, who was a nurse, had to care for her every need for days.
As a passionate runner who was training for a half marathon, Livingston said one blessing was her legs are OK.
“It was very touching to see how many people care about you,” Livingston told Channel 9.
She has since undergone surgery and still has a long road to recovery. She has to get her casts removed and go to physical therapy.
Livingston said the biggest thing upsetting her is that the driver didn’t stop: “Letting the fear of what would happen to you overtake the compassion and humanity to just stop and make sure the person you hit is OK, is just hard to wrap my mind around.”
Police are still looking for the driver who sped off.
Livingston said her goal is to run again as soon as possible.
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