BUFFALO, N.Y. (WKBW) — A woman is asking for the public’s help after she was seriously injured in a hit-and-run crash in Buffalo earlier this month.
Catherine Baldwin said she was riding her bicycle home with her husband, Craig, on August 8, when she was struck while riding in the bike lane on Delaware Avenue.
The crash happened around 1 a.m. between Lexington and Ferry streets. Baldwin said she was struck by a white truck, and the driver fled the scene.
“I just remember initially being hit and calling out by my husband, and after that I just remember waking up in the hospital,” Baldwin said.
Craig said Catherine was riding in the designated bike lane when the truck struck her.
“Catherine was in the bike lane, and he took off, and on his way out he actually hit two other vehicles,” he said.
Buffalo police confirmed officers responded shortly after 1:30 a.m. to a hit-and-run involving a woman on a bicycle in the 1100 block of Delaware Avenue. Police said the vehicle also struck another vehicle before continuing north on Delaware Avenue.
The Accident Investigation Unit responded, and the investigation remains ongoing.
Catherine was taken by ambulance to ECMC, where she spent 10 days in the hospital. Her injuries included a broken shoulder, broken ribs and liver damage. She also required surgery.
Now recovering at home, Baldwin is asking the driver to come forward.
“This person just really needs to come forward,” she said. “Accidents do happen. If he would have even stopped, we could have resolved this a lot more amicably.”
Baldwin said she is also concerned about what could happen if a similar crash involved someone more vulnerable.
“I am worried for other residents,” she said. “I am a pretty strong person, but if it would’ve been older or even younger, it could’ve been a much more fatal incident.”
WATCH: Bicyclist injured in hit-and-run in Buffalo asking for the public's help
She is also asking anyone who may have witnessed the crash or captured it on a security or doorbell camera to come forward.
Baldwin said drivers need to remember that bicyclists are legally sharing the roadway with them.
“Sometimes I think that people are recklessly driving, but the bike lane is in the street, and if more drivers can be aware of that fact because we have to share the road,” she said.
Despite the crash and her injuries, Baldwin said she does not plan to stop riding.
“Keep riding,” she said. “Buffalo is amazing for bike riders. This is literally one idiot out of the many tens of thousands of people we have.”
Police said the hit-and-run investigation remains ongoing. Anyone with information about the crash or the vehicle involved is asked to contact Buffalo police.
