Jaymie Clark said the last thing she remembers before getting hit was having a friendly conversation with a fellow shopper leaving the Walmart Supercenter in Round Rock.
A car had struck her in the store parking lot. One witness estimated the car had been driving at a speed of 25 miles per hour. The impact caused Clark to roll into the car’s windshield and slide off the side, she said.
Witnesses watched the car quickly drive away as she lay on the ground unconscious and seriously injured. An ambulance came minutes later to race her to St. David’s Round Rock Medical Center.
“That night I felt like — I had been watching a lot of medical movies — I may have internal bleeding and thought I wouldn’t make it,†she said. “I asked the ambulance driver to pray with me.â€
This week, Clark said the collision on Dec. 17 has left her in “excruciating pain.†The force of the vehicle fractured the front and back of her pelvis and tibia, she said, and crushed one side of her kneecap.
Clark lived in Round Rock for nearly two decades before moving to Hutto in 2012. Her daughter and grandchildren, whom she planned to visit this holiday season, live in Wimberley. The family chose instead to visit her house in Hutto since Clark can barely move.
Clark said she is disturbed by the number of pedestrian-involved crashes in recent weeks that have ended in deaths.
Sean Kelley, a beloved coach at Stony Point, was struck while crossing Mays Street in Downtown Round Rock late Dec. 2. Early the following day, Jorge Morales, 24, of Hutto died after being struck by a vehicle heading east on U.S. 79 near Dell Diamond.
Round Rock police data show the number of pedestrian-involved crashes leading to deaths has jumped in 2016. From 2014 to Dec. 6, 2016, four of five deaths involved in pedestrian crashes occurred this year.
Though deaths related to these incidents have increased this year, the number of pedestrian accidents has actually decreased year by year. There were 23 pedestrian accidents resulting in 22 injuries and a single death in 2014. In 2015, 18 pedestrian accidents resulted in the same number of injuries in 2015.
But from January to Dec. 6 this year, pedestrian accidents decreased to 15, resulting in 13 injuries.
Round Rock police are investigating the crash at the Walmart Supercenter. Clark said she believes at least two Walmart employees witnessed the incident, and camera surveillance will also help in finding the driver who fled the scene.
Clark implored the driver to contact police and “do what’s right.â€
“I am not seeking revenge, just your help,†she wrote in an email. “Please turn yourself in so that we can talk.â€
Anyone with information on the incident is asked to contact Round Rock police at 512-218-5500 or submit a crime tip on the police’s homepage at roundrocktexas.gov.