For five days, James Weinstein’s family has been waiting, most of the time by his hospital bed.
Friday night, James was hit on Canyon Road while trying to retrieve his sunglasses after going to the Mariners game.
The car he was riding in had its hazards on, but James was hit first by a 1990’s Silverado and then hit again by a sedan.
The driver of the Silverado is still at large and the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office is looking for any information that leads them to the driver.
On Wednesday, they got their first encouraging sign since James was hit— his eyes opened and he gave a thumbs up at the sound of his sister Natalie’s voice.
“I told him, ‘Hey, it’s Natalie. I’m here. I love you. Can you hear me?” Natalie said, “Even that small acknowledgment meant a lot.”
For days, Natalie has been at the hospital checking in on James. His father, Danny, has flown in from Arizona to look over his son. It was overwhelming when he heard what had happened.
“When they tell you that he got hit by a car, knocked 50 feet, because the car was going over 50 miles an hour, and then got hit by another car coming from behind, I thought I was going to lose my son. So I cried,” Danny said.
James suffered several broken bones all over his body. One of his legs has been crushed and Natalie says, doctors at St. Josephs Medical Center in Tacoma are trying to save it from being amputated.
“The first night was the scariest,” Natalie said, “[Today] is the best James has been in the last five days. It’s been really scary seeing him and not knowing kind of what’s ahead."
What is known is he will be in the hospital for weeks, if not months, as he recovers. Natalie says James has insurance, but they expect there will be out-of-pocket costs. In addition, they don’t know when James will be able to work again, so they’ve asked people to contribute to the GoFundMe to help him through his recovery.
“He might not be able to walk, and they haven’t really told us the extent, like if it would be six months a year. So we’re trying to help him as he’s not working to pay for his expenses and his rent.” Natalie said.
Natalie and Danny urge people to reach out to investigators if they know anything about the case or recognize the truck. The Pierce County Sheriff’s Office says the dark-colored 1994-2000 Silverado will had damage to the front grill.
They’re asking anyone who lives on or near Canyon Road from 72nd St to 116th Street to check surveillance cameras for the truck.
“We want to take a bad person off the street,” Danny said. ,
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