Pedestrian Hit by Car Downtown

[chipwich]

I was downtown in front of the London Bridge Saturday night visiting with some friends.  A nice young couple with a baby asked for directions to the Landing.  After a few of us chimed in to give the the couple directions, a nice man (maybe a regular of the bar) offered to lead the couple to the Landing.  As he walked across the Ocean street ( I think the light was green for all cars on Ocean), he was unfortunately struck by an on-coming car.  He hit the windshield of the car and was thrown into the middle of the intersection of Adams and Ocean.  It was one of the most horrifying incidents I have ever seen in my life.  It was a truly tragic night.

By what I understood from the people who gathered around, the man's name is "JD".  I please ask that you pray for him and his family.  I also ask that you pray for the driver as he appeared very shaken by the accident.  I am  not sure how the injured man is doing.  He was taken by ambulance via stretcher and he looked like he sustained very significant injuries.  

I also ask that everyone please drive carefully while in downtown.  I work downtown and visit the downtown bars quite often and it amazes me to see how fast people try to drive around downtown.  I blame the synchronized traffic lights that encourage drivers to drive in a suburban style traffic flow.  There are alot of people downtown at any given time and many do not always look before crossing.  

Also, I see many bar goers who treat downtown as a giant parking lot to roam around in.  It is dangerous when people and cars come together.  If you are drinking, please walk with friends and use caution.  Events like the one that happened Saturday can be avoided in the future if we all just use a little bit more caution.  Thanks.

[RockStar]

A lot of us know JD and we're all praying for him and the driver of the car that unfortunately was involved in this accident.

From what I've heard, he's sustained a ton of injuries and is in ICU, but is stabilized. JD is a great guy and well known and loved by all of the businesses downtown. We're praying for his recovery.

There's not much more I can say, other than for everyone to live every minute to its fullest, because you never know. A simple mistake can lead to tremendous tragedy for so many people. We are all connected in so many ways.

God bless JD, the driver and all friends and family connected.

~j.

[braeburn]

This is truly unfortunate.

[02roadking]

Yeah, JD is doing better, though he will probably have a long road in front of him. I concur with Rockstar, John is good people. This is very unfortunate.

[BridgeTroll]

I also know JD.  Glad to know he is doing better roadking.  The news regarding his condition... I heard this morning from a witness to the incident was not good.

Cars drive way too fast on Ocean coming off ther Main St bridge...

[Sportmotor]

Wow, good to hear he is doing better.

[Ocklawaha]

The ancient one shall offer a prayer!  Hope all goes well JD, pretty amazing that you were able to find a moment when a person and an auto were on the same street at the same moment in downtown Jacksonville! Wow!

OCKLAWAHA

[BridgeTroll]

Anything new on JD roadking?

[02roadking]

He is stable and in ICU at Shands. Infection is the primary concern at this time. He is moving and reponding to touch & sound, that is a good thing. I believe he may still be on a respirator. They should begin leg repair soon.

[hooplady]

Thanks for the update Roadking.

[BridgeTroll]

That is good news roadking.  What were the extent of his injuries?