It happened at SE 59th and Powell this past Sunday night at around 11:30 pm. 45-year-old southeast Portland resident Erik Craven was biking home from work when he was hit by a car. The person driving did not stop and has still not been found.
The driver left Erik lying on the street with severe injuries. With no one around to help and with critical injuries to his face, he dialed 911 himself. “He couldn’t even see his phone through the blood,” his friend Tanyastar Kim shared with us via email today.
The force of the collision, says Tanyastar, “basically broke his face.” Erik has a broken nose, broken upper and lower jaws, mulitple facial fractures (including his eye sockets and forehead) and “lots of stitches.” “He is stable,” she continued via email a few minutes ago, “but it’s not looking good.” Fortunately Erik’s parents are by his side. Unfortunately, Erik does not have health insurance.
Erik is currently at OHSU where he’s scheduled to have lengthy reconstructive surgery on his face at 3:00 pm.
Today Erik’s friends and family are rallying by his side. They are trying to support him as he recovers, raise money for what will be astronomical hospital bills, and find the person who was driving the car.
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While Erik heals, his friends are hanging flyers in the immediate neighborhood in hopes that someone witnessed the collision and can help them figure out what happened. Since no one called the police at the time of the collision (EMTs didn’t call police because they assumed he fell on his own), a report wasn’t made until today. This means the trail on the suspect is likely very cold by this point. We’ve contacted the police and will update this story when we hear any new information. Friends also say they’re in touch with nearby businesses in hopes a security camera has useful footage.
A Gofundme campaign has been started and has raised just over $2,000 toward a $50,000 funding goal.
This is a horribly sad scenario that we’re sorry to have had to cover way too many times over the years.
“Erik is a dear friend,” Tanyastar shared with us today, “whose humor and mischief has brightened many lives and contributed to sore belly laugh muscles on many occasions.”
There are already talks of a benefit event. Stay tuned as we’ll update this post with more information.
— Jonathan Maus, (503) 706-8804 – jonathan@bikeportland.org