Jesse Birkedal is recovering in Penticton Regional Hospital after being struck by a vehicle in a hit and run collision on Eastside Road on June 5, 2019.
Image Credit: SUBMITTED /Dayne Heimbecker -cooley
June 12, 2019 - 3:12 PM
PENTICTON - Jesse Birkedal continues to recover in Penticton Regional Hospital after being struck by a vehicle last week.
The 26-year-old was cycling south on Eastside Road around 9:40 p.m. June 5 when a motorist struck him and then left the scene without stopping.
Birkedal was found by emergency personnel and taken to hospital in critical condition with seven fractures including two in his pelvis, three on the L1, L2 and L3 vertebrae, and an ankle. Birkedal, who is a recreational cyclist, doesn’t remember anything about the collision.
His brother, Dayne Heimbecker-cooley, recently set up a Gofundme page to help his brother with rehabilitation costs, which include a wheelchair accessible apartment, because Birkedal isn’t expected to be walking for a while.
Birkedal has been making good progress, but his brother says he’s “bummed out because he can’t work. He’s sad because he has to sit here, and can’t do anything.”
“It crushes my heart to see my brother this way, he never deserved this,” Heimbecker-cooley says.
Penticton RCMP continue to look for the driver and suspect vehicle.
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