DETROIT – Cameras at a Green Light gas station were rolling when a driver hit a father of six and kept going -- and he thinks it was intentional.
Nate Sasser believes he was struck on purpose as he was driving his motorcycle on Detroit’s east side.
The incident happened in June when Sasser was on his way to get a haircut. He said he made eye contact with the driver as that man was making a left turn.
He had no time to react.
“Then it goes black for a second and I remember waking up looking at the sky as I was falling, I’m about to hit my head,” Sasser said.
He credits the helmet he bought the day before with saving his life.
“I remember touching myself and thinking ‘I’m OK. I’m alive,' and attempting to get up,” Sasser said.
That’s when he looked down and saw the mangled remains of his left leg.
“I remember glimpsing seeing my foot off and thinking I was going to die but then something kicked in and I was like I didn’t want to die,” Sasser recalled. “It‘s something I’ll never forget don’t wish it on anyone don’t want anyone to go through that type of pain.”
Sasser believes the driver of the white Lincoln Town Car with a dark soft top hit him on purpose.
“I think he sped up,” Sasser said. “I think he intentionally hit me. He did nothing to avoid it. He didn’t try to hit the brakes. He hit the gas and left me.”
The father of six said he misses the little things the most, things like jumping out of bed in the morning.
“This has completely changed my life for the rest of my life,” Sasser said. “If I would have anything to say, it is just don’t give up.”
In a few months, he is expected to be fitted with a prosthetic leg, but he lost his unemployment benefits because he’s not eligible to work. A GoFundMe has been set up for the family. You can donate here.