Scarborough woman who survived horrific hit-and-run says she feels lucky to be alive

Shefali Dewani tries not to think about the night of Nov. 21 when she was struck by a vehicle as she crossed the intersection from north to south along Kennedy Road at Danforth Road.

The 24-year-old, who moved to Canada from Mumbai, India two-and-a-half years ago and subsequently married an Indian man she met in Toronto, was coming home from work when she was dragged roughly 100 metres by a either a minivan or a SUV turning southbound on Kennedy Road before the driver took off.

Upset that anyone could leave her lying on the road, Dewani said she is grateful to the Good Samaritan who came to her aide minutes later.

“Like he just came and he put the hands on the shoulder, and he told me, ‘Don’t worry you are going to be OK,'” she said.

“I was telling him, ‘I am going to die,’ so he was telling me, ‘Don’t worry.’”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I was telling him, 'I am going to die,' so he was telling me, 'Don't worry.'"

Dewani said she feels lucky to be alive, despite spending the last month at St Michael’s Hospital. She spent two weeks in the intensive care unit unconscious.

She said she remembers crossing the intersection from north to south and seeing what she thought was a black SUV stopped in the northbound lane on Kennedy Road waiting to turn West on Danforth Road. But the vehicle struck her and she became wedged underneath.

“I was asking for help. I was just screaming help me, help me. But nobody was there and I was under the car, so nobody could see me,” Dewani said.

“I was in a lot of pain. So at that time, I was just thinking about my family.”

2:38 Woman nearly killed in Scarborough hit-and-run makes remarkable recovery

• Woman nearly killed in Scarborough hit-and-run makes remarkable recovery
• Surveillance video captures moments after pedestrian was struck in east-end hit-and-run

Previous Video

Next Video

Video obtained by Global News shows the vehicle slowing down before speeding up and Dewani managed to fall off the vehicle’s undercarriage. She said after calling for help, a stranger finally arrived to help her before paramedics arrived. Dewani said she remembers telling ambulance officials to call her husband before losing consciousness.

Dewani suffered a broken left knee, broken bones in her left foot, a broken right hip, a broken collarbone, broken ribs and facial injuries. She also sustained a back injury and lost two teeth. Dewani has undergone three surgeries, but amazingly is expected to make a full recovery.

One of the trauma surgeons who treated her, Dr. Najma Ahmed, said it’s fortunate she did not sustain a head injury.

“Thankfully her brain was relatively spared and she had a remarkable recovery owning to the outstanding care she received from our trauma team, and the ICU team and the doctors and nurses here at St. Michael’s Hospital,” she said.

Police said the investigation into this fail-to-remain collision remains an open and they still cannot confirm if the suspect vehicle was a black SUV, despite Dewani’s recollection.

“We don’t believe there’s a lot of damage on the vehicle because it was a slow impact collision,” Sgt. Brett Moore said.

Moore said he hopes whomever is responsible for the crash told someone something.

“If someone knows anything about it, a family member, a friend, they’re living with this as well,” he said.

“If a disclosure was made, come forward. They don’t have to do it personally. Crime Stoppers is an amazing service that’s available.”

Meanwhile, her husband Amit is begging the suspect to turn her or himself in.