A Saturday fundraiser for OB hit-and-run victim Katie Connor at Pizza Port surpassed $10,000. Meanwhile doctors are saying that she is near a full recovery.
Katie will return to her home in Maryland with her parents to complete her recovery. Then she’ll return to OB, and hopefully be able to gain her old job back at Pizza Port.
Katie used to work at Pizza Port in OB, when she was struck October 12th while riding her bike home from work; she was heading eastbound on West Point Loma Boulevard toward Sunset Cliffs in the early morning hours when she was struck by a white pickup truck with a camper shell. The driver remains at large. And police are still searching for the driver.
Once hospitalized at UC San Diego Medical Center, Katie had multiple surgeries since to relieve pressure on her brain .
At Pizza Port on Saturday at 1956 Bacon St., 20 percent of the sales are going to defray her medical expenses, plus there was also a silent auction that helped raise some of it all. An online fundraiser supporting Conner’s rehabilitation has also raised $28,468 to date.
Also the Connor family was selling T-shirts to also help raise money. Conner’s mother was interviewed by Ch10News. Barbara Conner stated:
“I’ve never seen such outpouring and support. I think if she walked in here today and saw what’s going on here at Pizza Port, she would probably burst into tears … she’d be like, ‘What!?'”
Her father, Mark, told the media that she is walking, talking, eating, getting around. and that she hopes to participate in a major bicycle ride next May.
Ch10 also spoke to one of the guys who helped Conner that night she was hit. Gaetano Balistreri said he and his friends were in shock when they saw a truck hit her and then speed off. He said:
“I thought the worst … I stood over her and said a prayer, We took our jackets off and put them over her to keep her warm. Other witnesses came around until the cops showed up.”
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