Struck down by a hit-and-run driver at a Pennington Avenue bus stop on Friday night, the victim convulsed from serious injuries on the ground awaiting paramedics when U.S. Coast Guard Petty Officer 1st Class Sarah Morin held his hand and comforted him some 15 minutes until help arrived.
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"I don't know his name. I don't know anything about him,” said Morin, “I left hoping he was okay, but I think his injuries were very significant so I'm not sure what happened to him."
We have now learned the victim, 59-year old Ababacar Thiam, worked here at the Valley Proteins plant a short distance from the bus stop where he had just got off work and was heading home when his life turned in an instant.
"I got a call that morning from another of my employees and Ababacar's wife called him and said he never came home from work,” said Valley Proteins General Manager Robert Hutson, “So he went over to her apartment and I guess they called 911. My understanding is they traced it through his phone. They pinged his phone and found out he was in Shock Trauma."
The victim's supervisor, Sean Mouzon, visited him in the hospital.
"The only thing he remembers is just the headlights and just waking up in the hospital," said Mouzon.
Thiam suffered a broken back when a car apparently jumped the curb and struck him before speeding away.
"He was definitely in a lot of pain. He told me that,” said Mouzon, “He told me the outcome. You know the surgery. He had rods in his back and said he could walk just barely. You know it was painful for him to walk."
But the husband and father of four young children survived the full impact of the car, and his boss says it's in no small measure due to those who came to his aid when he needed it the most.
"Sarah is a Good Samaritan,” said Hutson, “We thank her here at Valley Proteins. What she did was just fantastic. It probably saved his life."
Morin later happened upon the driver in her damaged vehicle a few blocks away and convinced her to return to the scene.
Police say she is a 45-year-old Baltimore woman who is yet to face charges, but they suspect alcohol played a role in the crash.
