Hit-and-run victim reports on his experiences after arrest

CARTER COUNTY, Kentucky (WSAZ) – A victim of a hit-and-run accident spoke Wednesday about his near-death experience and what it felt like.

Tim Johnston was going about his routine on Wednesday morning and was on his way to the gym where he works.

“I go to the gym and plan my workout. I think about what I'm going to do,” Johnston said.

From then on, his morning took a turn for the worse.

Johnston is blind and Grayson police said he was crossing the street properly when a car struck him and drove away.

During the investigation, Stephen Ray Ludwig confessed to the crime, officials said.

Ludwig is charged with reckless endangerment, hit and run/failure to render assistance and driving without a license.

The car involved in the accident was seized as evidence and a man was arrested in connection with the incident.

Driver arrested for allegedly hitting blind pedestrian

Johnston was crossing the street at the corner of South Hord Street and Main Street when he was struck by a car in the crosswalk.

He said he thought the car was going to run him over after he was hit. Johnston heard the tires screeching loudly, “and I thought, 'Oh my God, this is going to hurt… and then he drove around me. I didn't know what to do… what… I didn't see what was going to happen, I could only imagine it… I thought, 'This is how it ends.'”

His family saw surveillance video of the incident that was released and feared for Johnston's life.

“She would cover her face and say, 'Paw-Paw, Paw-Paw, bye, bye.' That made her all sad, so I came home and had to make sure she saw that I was OK, and she just smiled when she saw that Paw-Paw was OK,” Johnston said.

He is now on the road to recovery and hopes to be able to take his morning walk to the gym again in the near future.

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