ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. – From his hospital bed that takes up most of the tiny room, Earl Shuford Jr., bed-bound by rods and screws, grimaces in pain as he shares story of how he survived a hit-and-run crash in June.
"I was dropping somebody off and that's about all I know, and I got hit by a car," Shuford said from his grandmother's home, where he continues to recover. "I can't remember nothing after that, I can only remember getting hit."
The 27-year-old said he was on his way home on June 13 after dropping a friend off when he heard weird sound coming from his car. He said it sounded like the car stalled or he hit something on the road, so he pulled over to check it out along Highway 50, about a quarter-mile from Chuluota Road. According to a Florida High Patrol crash report, Shuford was in the right of way when he was hit. The driver who hit him, troopers said, took off and left him to die on the side of the road.
"I remember laying in the field and the trooper coming," he said. "I thought I was dead and then I (saw) the lights, so I knew I was kind of alright. I was hoping that the trooper could hear me because he was kind of far away."
Shuford said he was unconscious for about two weeks. During that time, his mother, Renee Jones, said he had at least 10 surgeries. She didn't think her son was going to make it.
"A 50-50 chance is all they said," Jones said. "I gave birth to this boy, I carried this boy for nine months. This was the worst pregnancy, he was a big boy and then 27 years later, my son, I'm thinking I'm going to have to bury my son."
Shuford's family started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help pay for his many medical expenses.
According to the crash report, troopers on scene found a piece of a left fog light on scene. In it was the VIN number to a black Kia Optima. That VIN number led troopers to the owner of the car and to his listed address to a house in Titusville.
Troopers and Titusville police officers have been stopping by the house, but News 6 learned on Wednesday that new people have moved into the home, possibly bringing that lead to a dead end.
Because of that, Shuford and his mother are pleading for the driver to turn themselves in.
"It just makes me angry," Shuford said. "What if it was them?"
"Show yourself," his mom said. "Look at my son, he shouldn't be laying here like this and you shouldn't be out on the run."
According to FHP crash numbers, Shuford's hit-and-run crash was one of 1,053 just in the month of June in Central Florida alone, that averages out to 35 hit-and-run crashes a day, troopers said.
FHP has investigated 54 fatal hit and run crashes statewide so far in 2018.
Here is the breakdown for FHP investigated crashes in Central Florida:
- Orange - 4
- Volusia - 2
- Lake - 1
- Brevard - 2
- Osceola - 1
For the same time period in 2017 FHP investigated 50 fatal hit-and-run crashes.
Here is the breakdown from FHP:
- Orange - 6
- Volusia - 1
- Lake - 3
- Seminole -2
- Osceola - 4