ST. JOHNS COUNTY, Fla. — Eight months after being plowed down while riding his bike along A1A south of Mickler’s Landing, Greg Helms is still recovering.
“I remember just this thud of a hit,” Helms recalled.
It was the afternoon of March 26. The sun was out, and Helms remembers looking up at the bright blue sky after a white pickup truck hit him from behind as he trained for an Iron Man race.
“He full-on hit me, and I remember just the feeling of being catapulted and then waking up in the bushes on the side of A1A right there in the Guana area," said Helms.
A witness who saw the crash rushed to his aid and called for help.
“I was gasping for breath. I couldn't catch my breath,” Helms said. “I remember thinking I'm dying. This is it, and I passed out.”
The driver who hit him never stopped.
“Not only did this person know they hit me, they fled the scene, and then the coward turned around and left,” Helms said. “He left me like roadkill.”
Helms spent more than a week in the hospital recovering from a shattered shoulder bone, broken ribs, a broken leg, and wrist among other injuries. He and his wife realize what a close brush with death he had.
“We're so thankful. I mean, it could have been so much worse, and we're reminded of that every day,” Deanna Helms said.
With help from a private investigator and their attorney, Marty Sitler, they say they know the identity of the person who hit him.
“We know precisely who it is,” Helms said. “They have not been arrested and have not been brought to justice. I'm reminded every day. My back hurts every day. It hurts even tying my shoes. I'm the one who has to deal with it every day, and I probably will have to do with the rest of my life.”
“I think we both want to see him, talk to him. Why? How? How could you do such a thing? If we hadn't had a witness he would have probably died,” Deanna Helms said.
If you have any information on this hit and run contact Florida Highway Patrol or Attorney Marty Sitler at 904-305 -5142.