Columbia Police Chief Skip Holbrook announces that today marks the four-year anniversary of a hit and run incident that seriously injured a cardiac nurse. A $25,000 reward is still being offered in the case.
On September 16, 2012, Lindsay Bires was standing on the sidewalk at Medical Park Drive during a work break from Palmetto Health Richland Hospital.
According to witnesses, a white compact car ran off the side of the road twice before making impact with Bires causing life-threatening injuries. The driver did not stop or render aid.
After the incident, those same witnesses helped Bires, and were able to get medical personnel on site immediately. According to her family, the road to recovery since the incident has been extremely difficult. Despite Lindsay’s daily agony, she is a strong victim who refuses to lose hope.
Lindsay Bires says,
“After 24 years of living a fabulous life, this accident on September 16, 2012 took away my life as I knew it. I was put into a coma and forced to move into a hospital for 7 consecutive months. On day 11 I opened my eyes however, did not speak for about 2 months. I began talking in November when I was moved to Spaulding rehabilitation hospital in Boston, MA. I remained in the hospital from September 2012 until March, 2013. I was forced at age 24 to move back into my family home so that everyone could care for me, attend rehab (in-patient and out -patient) for 3 and 1/2 consecutive years, and endure around 25 invasive surgeries. Within the past few months I just reached the point of starting my adult life over again. I got my license back in January of 2016, after 3 years without having it. I am enrolled in college courses that begin in a little over a week and my boyfriend and I are going to begin looking at apartments to move into independently just this month. This accident completely took away my life for 4 solid years. I had to start again as if I had just been born, learn to walk, talk, read, write, and live as an independent individual. The selfish criminal who hit me gets to live his life as if nothing ever happened, no jail time, no felony record, and no punishment at all. He/She took off and has never been caught. I honestly don’t know how he can wake up and take a breath everyday knowing what he did to my life but he clearly doesn’t care and probably never will. However, I can’t change what happened, it is what it is.
All I can do is try my hardest to get my life back as close as possible to what it was on 9/16/2012.”
In an effort to generate Crimestoppers tips, CPD is asking citizens to recall specific conversations they might have had with someone regarding the incident.
For example, did that person act differently/nervously during the discussion, or show signs of guilt and remorse?
It is also important for citizens to recall someone who may have driven a white compact car during the time of the incident and/or had vehicle repairs done.
Chief Holbrook encourages citizens with any information about the crime to call, text or submit online, their anonymous tip to Crimestoppers in any of the following ways:
CALL toll-free, 888-CRIME-SC.
TEXT to CRIMES (274637), and mark the beginning of the message with “TIPSC,” followed by the tip information.
LOG onto: www.midlandscrimestoppers.com, and click on the red “Submit a tip” tab.
Picture provided by the Bires family