The 13-year-old victim of a hit-and-run in Burnaby two days before Christmas is asking the driver who left him injured in the road to come forward.
Joseph Gebreyes says he suffered a concussion and a broken femur after he was hit at the intersection of 17th Avenue and Humphries Avenue just after 5 p.m. on Dec. 23.
Lying in bed at home with his leg wrapped in a cast, the Byrne Creek Secondary student told Global News Friday he was walking to the Edmonds Community Centre when he was struck.
“I woke up in the hospital and I didn’t know what happened,” he said. “I saw my mom crying and my stepdad and a few of my neighbours, and I was really confused.
“I was shocked. I didn’t know I had been hit by a car.”
Gebreyes says he was even more shocked when he found out the driver hadn’t stopped.
“It’s surprising that someone would just hit me and run away,” he said.
“He didn’t help me or nothing.”
Gebreyes was unconscious in the road when he was found by his mother and paramedics.
Milagro Guillen Terrero says she keeps thinking about how close she was to losing her son, and how angry she is that the driver didn’t take responsibility.
“They break my heart so much because I think he not think about my son, he not think about the family, he don’t think about nobody,” she said through tears.
Burnaby RCMP are continuing to appeal for the driver to come forward, along with anyone who witnessed the crash or has dashcam video.
The family is also appealing for the City of Burnaby to take a look at the road where Gebreyes was hit, saying a lack of sidewalks and lighting makes it dangerous for pedestrians when the sun goes down.
“No signal, no light, no nothing. No nothing. They need doing something,” Terrero said.
Residents who live in the area near the crash scene on Humphries Avenue share similar concerns.
“I always pay extra attention even just on this particular strip, because everywhere has sidewalks and it’s a common route for young people, mostly,” Max Brown said.
In a statement, the city said council recently committed to an “accelerated sidewalk program” that aims to build more than 16 kilometres of new sidewalk in 2020.
The city added that Humphries Avenue “falls into this priority category.”
Doctors have told Gebreyes it will likely take six weeks for his leg to heal, leaving him dreading his increased workload at school and how his body could be impacted.
“I might not be the same, my leg might not be the same,” he said.
“I may not be able to run the same or do the things I could do before when my leg was fine.”
— With files from John Hua