GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. — The Lyft driver who stopped to help a local teen after he was hit and left for dead remembers what the young man was saying to himself as he lie in the road, helpless.
“He was literally trying to keep himself alive by just saying, ‘I want to live. I want to live. I just want to play basketball. I want to go to the NBA,” said Lyft driver Shaequan Seabrook.
Glynn County police said the crash happened at Frederica Road and St. Clair Parkway early Sunday morning.
They say 19-year-old Rilyn Ellis was in the road when he was hit, and the driver took off.
“I can’t even think of what was going through his mind as he was lying there in the dark,” Seabook said. “It’s just traumatic.”
Seabrook said she was on her way to pick someone up that morning when she spotted Ellis in the street.
“The back of his head was pouring blood; he could not move,” Seabrook said. “It was horrible.”
She said she ran over to him and immediately called for help.
“It was just a horrible sight that someone would literally hit him and drag him down the street and leave him for dead,” Seabrook said.
Ellis’ family said he suffered a fractured neck and broken arm and legs.
Police said Monday night, they arrested Michael Harris, 19, for the alleged hit-and-run. He remains in jail with no bond.
“How could you just drag someone down the street and go to bed at night like nothing ever happened?” Seabrook said.
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Ellis’ family said he’s a fighter. They provided Action News Jax video of him giving the thumbs up after surgery.
“Ellis’ mother believes that if you hadn’t been there when you were he would have died,” Action News Jax reporter Russell Colburn said.
“Everything happens for a reason and I’m just thankful that I was able to do that for him,” Seabrook said.
Harris faces multiple charges related to the alleged hit-and-run, but police said they anticipate more.
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