Teen Injured in Hit-and-Run on the Way from Church Forgives Driver: 'I Got a Second Chance'
A 16-year-old boy warmed hearts online this week after he remarkably forgave the driver who causes him severe injuries in a hit-and-run accident.
De’Shawn Nance and his friend Michael were on their way from church to a friend’s birthday party on Sunday, riding their bikes along a state road. The two boys were peddling in the bicycle lane when a car traveling nearly 60 mph abruptly swerved towards them, sending Nance flying at least 20 feet, according to WISH-TV.
“I felt myself being flung in the air,” the teenager told WXIN. “I tried to turn out of the way because I knew it was going to hit me.”
“Once I was in the air, I closed my eyes because I was scared,” he added to WISH-TV. “I was thinking I was in the air for a very long time.”
The accident left Nance with a broken femur, among other non-life-threatening injuries.
However, the car’s driver left the scene without stopping to help or call the authorities. But thankfully Nance wasn’t alone.
The teenager credited his friend Michael with saving his life after the other boy raced to his side, called 911 and helped keep him calm until paramedics arrived to airlift Nance to a hospital.
He said, “If Michael hadn’t been there, I probably would have bled out and died.”
Though Nance miraculously escaped the accident with his life, he had to be rushed immediately into surgery upon arriving at the hospital and has a tough road ahead as he recovers from the painful incident.
His bike was completely destroyed by the impact of the car. Nance’s mother, Ra’Shia Nance, posted on Facebook with a photo of the damage.
“This is the bike my son was riding. Now imagine to yourself if this is what happened to the bike at 60mph what does my son feel like?” she wrote. The worried mother thanked her friends for praying for her son.
“Thank you for all your prayers and words of comfort,” she wrote. “Because of your prayers my baby is expected to make a full recovery.” However, as a mother, Ra’Shia Nance was livid that the driver hadn’t stopped to take responsibility for De’Shawn’s injuries.
“You hit my baby at 60mph sent him 25 feet in the air. And you heartless monster! You keep going?” she posted.
But 16-year-old Nance had another message for the person who hit him.
“I have to find it in my heart to forgive him,” he said. “If I just stayed angry at the driver the whole time, that wouldn’t have done any good for me.”
The young man is choosing to focus on forgiveness and healing, rather than anger, after the near-deadly accident. Rather than becoming trapped in regret and frustration, the teen’s attitude shows how thankfulness can make a real difference.
“Life doesn’t give a lot of second chances, and I got a second chance, but a lot of people don’t,” he said. “I have to be thankful for what I’ve got.”
The Western Journal reached out to Ra’Shia Nance for a comment but has not yet received a response. We will update this article if and when we do.
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