Sawyer family moves forward after devastating loss
Sep 11, 2009
from wsbt.com (tip of the hat to Vancouver Association for Restorative Justice):
When he left home the morning of July 16, 2008, Patrick was just weeks away from completing his degree. It was early, before sunrise, and he was riding his bicycle west on Cleveland Road, headed to the YMCA to swim laps before class at Indiana University South Bend. He was wearing a helmet and reflective vest and riding with traffic, and he had lights on the front and back of his bicycle.
At the same time, Shane Ryan McGee was driving his car home from a party. The then-21-year-old had drunk several beers, he later admitted, and his blood-alcohol content was over the legal limit of 0.08 percent.
About 5 a.m., somewhere west of Highland Drive, McGee, also westbound on Cleveland, struck Patrick from behind. Based on the subsequent accident report filed by police, Patrick apparently slid up the hood of the car and into the windshield, then fell hard to the pavement. McGee took off.
A neighbor who heard the crash would later tell Nancy he arrived to find her husband lying in the road, half-conscious and attempting to crawl to the shoulder, near where his bike lay mangled.
Five days later, Patrick died.
