$11,000 reward to find driver of hit and run that left cyclist without his left leg

Posted at: 06/13/2012 4:45 PM | Updated at: 06/14/2012 4:21 PM
By: Berkeley Brean | WHEC.com

This man has lost his leg after he was hit by a car while he was riding his bike. The driver took off. Now there is a reward for anyone who can help find that person.

Kevin Royston told us riding his bike wasn't a hobby. It was his life, something he did almost every night after work. Now that life is over for the foreseeable future. Doctors at Strong Memorial Hospital had to amputate Kevin's left leg at the knee because the damage was just too severe.

The hit and run happened a week ago Tuesday. Kevin was on his regular route on Town Line road in Rushville. He says he was hit from behind by a car that he never heard or saw coming.

News10NBC was able to talk to Kevin in his hospital room today

"Just riding up the hill, just like I normally do every time I go for a ride and the next thing I know my leg is burning and I'm laying in the road trying to get myself sat back up so I could see if someone else was coming," Kevin said.

Kevin was sitting up in a chair during the interview, his amputated leg wrapped in a bandage.
When he was hit, Kevin was nearly at the top of the long hill on Town Line Road in Rushville. The only thing he remembers is chaos.

"Because you're riding focused on getting to the top of the hill and the next thing I know, there's a lot of pain, legs burning and trying to figure out why you're bouncing," he said.

The impact knocked Kevin down into the ditch and he was lying there badly injured, waiting for the driver to come back and help him. But he says the only thing he heard was the engine revving and the car pulling away

"I kept waiting to hear the tires on the road you know when someone stops fast you can hear the tires on the asphalt," he said. "I don't remember hearing any of that."

Kevin was helped when another car came by and stopped 30 seconds later. Then the medics showed up. There are still bandage wrappers in the ditch.

Now there's a reward to help find the driver. It was started by Jim Hogan - who owns Geneva Bicycle Center in Geneva.

"I hope that someone who knows something, heard something, saw something comes forward and we find that person," Hogan said.

The reward includes money from Hogan's business and from Kevin's family. The total tonight is $11,000.

Click here for a link to Hogan's business

"I can't thank them enough for doing that. It might be the only thing or the only reason why we find this person," Kevin said.

If anyone has information, they should call 9-1-1 and ask for the Ontario County Sheriff's Office.

Kevin has another surgery tomorrow.
 

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