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BOUNTIFUL — For Nina Jacobs, the Fourth of July carries an entirely different significance now.
Late on the night of July 4, 2015, the Bountiful woman was crossing the street near 245 S. 500 West in Bountiful when she was critically injured and left for dead in a hit-and-run collision.
One year later, there is still no sign of the driver responsible for the crash and Jacobs hasn’t fully recovered from the ordeal.
“I try to get well, keep smiling,” Jacobs said from a living room-turned-bedroom.
She is blind in her right eye, requires around-the-clock assistance from family members, and faces more surgeries — even though she has already undergone 15 procedures in the past 12 months.
“Our lives have changed dramatically,” said Kristie Banks, Jacobs’ cousin. “Right now, Nina is in constant care of having antibiotics. She has a PICC (Peripherally Inserted Central Catheter) line in and she gets that three times a day. She has meds she has to take at different times of the day.”
Banks said at one point Jacobs could put her weight on her badly damaged right leg. But an infection recently led to additional surgeries where 4 inches of bone was removed and antibiotic beads were inserted into the leg.
She currently sports an external fixator device.
Doctors have told the family it will likely be another year until Jacobs can walk normally on her own again, Banks said.
“My sister does everything for her,” Banks said. “We’re really fortunate that my sister is able to care for her.”
Jacobs said she is not angry at the unknown driver who hit her, but she has expressed frustration to family members over the situation.
Monday afternoon, she said she hoped Bountiful Police might still be able to find the driver.
Family members also hoped Jacobs’ story would lead other drivers to be more attentive on the roads.
“We’d like people to slow down – you know. Yes, it’s a holiday. Time to celebrate and that, but slow down, watch for people and don’t drink and drive,” Banks said. “Whatever choice you’re making today will affect somebody else for the rest of their life.”
