Man seriously injured by driver fleeing police and talks about his recovery

CHICAGO (CBS) – Battered, injured and months of recovery ahead of us. After being seriously injured by a driver who was fleeing police, a hit-and-run victim shares his story of recovery.

Elias Martinez doesn’t remember much about that night When a driver fleeing from North Riverside police struck him from behind.

Just looking at Elias, it’s clear he’s in pain. His left leg was broken in three places and his skull was fractured.

After five weeks in the hospital and rehabilitation, he is finally back home.

“They showed me how to walk like a baby little by little,” he said.

On Sept. 4, Elias, his wife, Maria, and their 5-year-old daughter were walking in Berwyn near the North Riverside Mall when a carjacking suspect fleeing from North Riverside police jumped the curb and struck him.

The driver abandoned his car and ran away. Police said he carjacked someone in a minivan a few blocks away. The accident left Martinez hospitalized for days, unable to speak.

“God gave me another chance to stay here with my family,” he said.

The Martinez family is grateful to have him, but many questions remain about that night.

“As far as I know, he ran away from the police. He could have easily prevented that,” said his son Jesus.

“This is not an accident, this is just wrong,” Elias said.

The suspect who caused the accident was on the run until last week, when the Martinez family received a call from police.

“They captured the person who did it,” Jesus said.

But the family is now in financial difficulties. Friends have started a GoFundMe because Martinez can’t work and his medical bills are mounting.

“I can’t withdraw money. “I’m going to lose everything,” Elias said.

As Martinez slowly recovers, his family is worried but thinks about what the doctors told them.

“Considering how he was hit from behind, most people don’t survive and can’t walk again,” Jesus said.

North Riverside police declined to comment on the case Tuesday.

Police in Berwyn, where the crash and carjacking occurred, said they, with the help of U.S. Marshals, arrested Terrance Whitely of Chicago, who was charged with six felonies in the crash.