An Abbotsford family is pleading for justice after their mother was horrifically injured in a hit-and-run late last month.
The collision happened Sept. 29 at the West Oaks Mall, where 59-year-old Sharon Beckett was struck by a man driving a newer-model light grey Dodge Caravan.
Nicole Hatt, the victim’s daughter, told Global News she’d driven her mother to London Drugs, and was waiting for her mom to come back out when she heard a sound.
“I saw her laying underneath the van, and then I saw him proceed to drive over her head,” Hatt said through tears.
“I just got out of my vehicle and screamed, that’s all I remember doing.”
Police say the driver stopped long enough to speak with witnesses at the scene before driving away.
Amber Seymour, Beckett’s other daughter, says she’s still trying to understand how the driver kept going after realizing they’d struck someone.
“To live with it, to know if they would have stopped after the initial impact she could have been okay,” she said.
The collision left the Beckett with a broken neck, a broken back and the loss of at least one eye.
“She has multiple broken bones, a fractured skull, face, jaw, a bleed on her brain,” said Hatt.
“She’s going to be in the hospital for a very, very long time and I think her recovery is going to be very long.”
Beckett was already deaf, and her daughter say they fear she could now also be rendered blind.
Friends of the family have arranged a GoFundMe campaign to help cover costs.
Abbotsford police spokesperson Sgt. Judy Bird said the department’s major crime unit is leading the investigation.
“We know he knows what happened,” she told Global News, before addressing the suspect driver directly.
“We want to hear your side of the story.”
Police did not get a licence plate number from the suspect vehicle, but witnesses did get a look at the driver.
He’s described as between 50 and 60 years old, unshaven, between five-foot-six and five-foot-10 with a medium build, and was wearing tan pants.
Hatt and Seymour say they’re hopeful more witnesses or video can be collected, but they’d rather see the driver do the right thing himself.
“We want justice for our mom, and we think they need to answer for what they have done,” said Hatt.
“We can’t imagine how they could be sitting at home and not turning themselves in,” she added.
“You have to turn yourself in. Someone’s life has been seriously damaged by this,” said Seymour.
“Any time we had left with our mom as our mom could be gone now.”
Comments