NORTH PORT, Fla. — A family from North Port is looking for answers after a hit-and-run crash on the highway during New Year's Eve left a father injured.
It happened off northbound Interstate 75, close to Jacaranda Boulevard. Nearly two weeks later, investigators are still searching for the driver responsible.
The drives feel less safe, and the walks are more difficult for couple Zachary Edmonds and Jadziah Earle.
"It could've been so much worse," Edmonds said.
Edmonds was set to celebrate his birthday on the first day of the new year, but he spent it at the hospital. His body isn't the same after the near-fatal crash.
He needs assistance to walk and is unable to put weight on his left arm.
"I remember just being in the hospital bed and I would just tell her, I'd be like, 'It's so over.' Like just being so, so devastated," Edmonds said.
Earle was headed to work at Sarasota Memorial Hospital when her car ran out of gas. Edmonds arrived with their son to help but as he pumped gas into her car on the shoulder of the highway, a driver struck him.
"I was switching the baby's car seat over to my car and was strapping him in the car, and that's when I heard the crash," Earle said.
Earle recalls seeing her partner's shoes on the highway. Edmonds remembers being unable to use his arm and wondering if he would make it alive or if he'd be paralyzed.
The Florida Highway Patrol said so far, it can confirm the driver responsible may have been in a gray or silver vehicle. Earle said witnesses told her it may have been a silver Nissan Rogue, but photographic or video evidence isn't available at this time.
As the two work through the recovery, they say their son and their hopes for the future give them strength.
"This isn't permanent," Edmonds said.
Edmonds is hoping to become a police officer one day. Meanwhile, Earle must delay nursing classes to take care of her family but said this ordeal has put some interest into going into nursing at a trauma center.
"For him, it's super hard for him, and I know that I would want someone who cares," Earle said.
For now, they are hoping the person or people responsible can confess or someone else may have information to find the answers.
If you'd like to donate to the family's GoFundMe, visit this link.