MACON, Ga. — A hit-and-run car accident in Macon last month left a Warner Robins man paralyzed in the hospital. Now, he can only communicate by blinking his eyes to "yes" or "no" questions.
We sat down with Dylan Wood's wife and mom.
It's been more than two weeks since someone hit 25-year-old Dylan Wood in his car while he was heading into work as a non-emergent EMT.
He remains in the ICU where he is receiving treatment for injuries, including traumatic brain injury, fractures to the skull, neck, and back, as well as internal injuries.
On November 21, Alexandra Koper of Warner Robins woke up to a ringing cell phone.
Koper said, "The police officer told me that my husband had been involved in a car accident and that he was in the emergency room and that they were trying to reach me."
It was about 3:45 in the morning. Her husband of less than two years, Dylan Wood, was on his way to work. He stopped at a traffic light on Pio Nono Avenue and Broadway in Macon. That's when a 2006 Freightliner rammed into the back of his Honda Accord. First responders rushed him to Atrium Health Navicent.
Koper said, "My husband just had all of these tubes all over him and there was just blood."
According to the Bibb County Sheriff's Office, the driver did not stop after hitting Wood's car. Investigators later found the Freightliner abandoned on Houston Avenue. A day after the crash, 47-year-old Cedrick DeCarlo Garland turned himself in.
Wood said, "Our hardship was believing that somebody would do this damage to somebody and then run off, not to check on him, not to seek help, just to flee!"
Wood's mother, Linda, flew in from Idaho right after the wreck. She said even though Garland abandoned him, video footage shows witnesses and nearby neighbors came out to help him.
Linda also said, "That made us feel so much better to know that he wasn't abandoned. He wasn't alone. People were on the scene to help him, and that just helped our hearts a lot, because we were really angry at this man who just left him there, just left him there to die."
Wood's boss Kevin Wilson says Wood is a man of faith and also an actor and writer.
Wilson said, "He was the sole provider for his wife while he went to school to become a lawyer at Mercer University, and this happening, it really hurt."
Wilson helped the family set up a GoFundMe account to pay for Wood's medical and living expenses. So far, it has raised more than $20,000.
"Dylan would just be blown away by just the sheer support and gratitude. I know he would just be blown away to see people saying prayers for him," Koper said.
Wilson says Dylan wasn't scheduled to work that Sunday. Because it was the week of Thanksgiving, Dylan picked up that early morning Sunday shift to take dialysis patients to their appointments. Next year, Wilson plans on hosting a 5K road race to keep raising money for Wood and his family.
Cedric Decarlo Garland is currently being held without bond at the Bibb County jail.
He faces several charges including serious injury by vehicle and hit and run.
Right now, Wood still can't breathe on his own, so he remains in critical condition at the hospital.
The Woods moved to Central Georgia this past summer.