MOLALLA, Ore. -- A 67-year-old bicyclist is making a slow recovery after he was struck by a hit-and-run driver in Molalla Tuesday.
Neighbor Jim Satrum heard a loud thud and ran over to help, not realizing it was actually his own best friend who had been hit. Tom Mossman had been riding his bicycle over to Satrum's house for a surprise visit.
"I ran over there and I looked at his face and it was my friend. It was so hard, it just broke my heart... it’s still so real. He was in a fetal position, blood coming out of his mouth. He was just shaking," Satrum said. "I told him, 'Tom, I’m here, I’m here. It’s gonna be okay. Don’t move.'"
Jim stayed there and comforted Tom until he was loaded into a LifeFlight helicopter and rushed to Oregon Health and Science University. On Wednesday Tom was listed in critical condition at OHSU with internal injuries and multiple rib fractures.
Tuesday night, Mossman's wife, Sharon pleaded on TV for the the driver who hit Tom to surrender.
Mossman has just turned onto the highway near South Palmer Road when his bicycle was struck from behind by a minivan. The driver took off, according to a spokesperson with the Molalla Fire Department.
Investigators said the vehicle that hit Mossman may be a silver 1995 Dodge Caravan. The suspect driver and van have not been located. They may have been in the Molalla area before the crash, according to Oregon State Police.
The van (similar to the photo at left) may have right front headlight damage, may be missing a passenger side mirror, and may be missing the right side door moulding.
"I'd like them to turn themselves in," Sharon Mossman told KGW. "For their own good, as well as ours."
Photos: Scene of hit-and-run crash
Mossman was wearing a helmet and a bright red jacket. Sharon said her husband was always a careful bicycle rider.
"If it wasn’t for his helmet, he would have been dead for sure," Satrum said. "His helmet saved his life"
Mossman (pictured at top) is well-known in the Molalla community and residents were rallying behind him and his family, doing everything they could to help. Tom runs a handy-man business in Molalla and has helped out many neighbors through the years. He is a retired engineer.
"There’s people praying for one another, not just in our church but in other churches praying, other people in the community praying," said Dale Satrum, the pastor at Mossman's church.
Anyone with information is asked to call OSP's Northern Command Center dispatch at 1-800-452-7888.
Hwy. 211 was shut down as OSP investigated.
