BROWNSTOWN TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A 56-year-old woman is recovering in the hospital after being struck by a vehicle while riding her electric bike and then left in a ditch for hours in what police are calling a hit-and-run crash.
Watch Carli Petrus's video report:
Monique Rathbone was found on Sibley Road near Burr early Sunday morning after a man walking to work heard her screaming for help and called 911.
"I was left for dead," Rathbone said. "The pain was unbearable, my whole left side of my body."
Rathbone's daughter, Dominique Rathbone, said her mother was taking her usual route home from work at a local restaurant when she was hit from behind while riding on the shoulder with the flow of traffic.
"That's her main route to and from work," Dominique said. "It's heartbreaking. What was she lying there thinking about? How many people passed her and just didn't care to see what she was doing because she was trying to get attention."
Brownstown Township Police Detective Ian Morrison said police are investigating the crash.
"Yeah, so there's no question on that, so when I looked at the bike, I could tell she was struck by a vehicle, and she knows she was struck by a vehicle, so we're just trying to nail down an exact vehicle and time frame," Morrison said.
Morrison is asking anyone who may have seen anything to come forward.
"Just reach out if anyone saw her riding a bike or saw someone who might have seen her driving in the area," Morrison said. "So what we're interested in would be from the area of Inkster and King Road northbound from there to Sibley and then eastbound to Telegraph."
Monique is recovering from severe injuries, including a punctured lung and broken ankle. She and her family are thankful for the man who stopped to call 911.
"Thank you so much for stopping and helping my mother because had it not been you, she could've been still laying there, she could've been gone," Dominique said.
The family is also pleading with the driver to come forward.
"If possibly you may have been under the influence or just think maybe you hit a deer or an animal or something, have the heart to turn yourself in, please, you literally left my mother there to die, she could've been dead," Dominique said.
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