‘Turn yourself in’: Family’s emotional appeal after devastating Abbotsford hit and run

The family of a man left with life-threatening injuries in an Abbotsford hit-and-run Tuesday is pleading for the driver to turn themselves in.

Dale Lylyk, 38, is currently in Royal Columbian hospital with fractures in his skull and a brain bleed, and has undergone surgery to relieve pressure in his brain and remove his small intestine.

“I don’t know how anyone could do that, I’m trying to wrap my brain around how somebody could hit somebody and just drive away, I’ve tried to come up with tons of reasons, maybe they were scared, maybe they didn’t know they hit someone,” his mother Michele Lylyk told Global News.

“If they helped him maybe it wouldn’t be so bad, but they drove away and they left him.

Abbotsford police Const. Paul Walker said Lylyk was struck just before midnight on Hillcrest Avenue at Clearbrook Road as he was crossing the street.

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“Early indications suggest the person involved that was operating this vehicle would have known that they struck a pedestrian, and therefore decided to leave the scene and leave them lying in the roadway,” Walker said.

Police are looking for a light-coloured Toyata 4-Runner with a sunroof from the early 2000s.

The family says he is now day-to-day and remains in an induced coma and facing a traumatic brain injury.

“You can’t imagine seeing anyone you love hooked up to any machine, to know they’re hooked up to a breathing machine, to know they’re hooked up to a heart machine, something for their brain, every part of him, it’s heartbreaking,” his mother said.

“As a mother you want to pick him up and hold him, he’s your baby. Even though he’s a full grown adult he’s still my baby and I can’t help him and I can’t fix him.”

0:58 Family makes emotional plea in horrific hit-and-run

Lylyk’s family says the father of six once struggled with addiction, but had recently found his way into recovery for his children.

“It’s not fair. He’s tried so hard and he doesn’t deserve this,” Lylyk’s sister Chantille Brown said.

“They should’ve stopped. They should’ve called 911. They should’ve been there for my brother. Instead he was alone, by himself, he had nobody.”

Abbotsford police are asking anyone who witnessed the collision or who has video shot in the area of Clearbrook Road and Hillcrest Avenue around midnight is asked to contact them at 604-859-5225.

Lylyk’s mother is appealing directly to the driver.

“Whoever you are, I don’t know the reason because I’m not judging, but I’m asking you to please turn yourself in,” she said.

“I don’t know the reason they didn’t stop, I have no idea if they were scared, if it was because it was a rough area, or if it was because an elderly person that didn’t see or if its somebody that may be in addictions or alcohol and is scared to come forward, but whatever the reason they need to come forward to be able to get whatever help they need if that is the reason.”