Warning: The above video contains images of the victim’s injuries.
DAVIDSON COUNTY, N.C. (WGHP) — A North Carolina man needed stitches and is now wearing a neck brace after an afternoon jog through his neighborhood.
Christopher Cerce went for a jog on Monday afternoon. A pickup truck pulling a trailer carrying wood debris passed him as he was running along a street with no sidewalks. That is where he usually jogs and is very careful in following the rules of the road. He says drivers usually give him room when they pass, but this particular day was different.
“Car coming directly at me, didn’t give way. I moved on to the grass so there would be enough room, but the trailer they were hauling had some debris hanging out of it and it struck me right in the shoulder and the neck,” he said.
Chris was knocked to the ground. The wood debris had sliced his neck, leaving a gash that required 13 stitches and a neck brace. According to the Highway Patrol report, Chris was running in the opposite direction of the truck when the driver ran off the road.
“I really don’t think they realized that they had hit me. I don’t even know if they knew I was there, which that’s bad enough. Distracted driving or whatever that was,” Cerce said. “I was in severe pain. Luckily it didn’t hit anything major so I never lost consciousness. I didn’t hit my head. So I was able to – after gathering myself – I got up and started walking home, realizing there was blood, but I didn’t really realize I literally had a hole in my neck.”
With the help of his aunt who lives nearby, Chris made it home and was able to call an ambulance.
“They said I got lucky. A couple inches out of the way could have broken my windpipe and neck or could have hit my jugular or carotid artery at the other end,” Cerce said.
He won’t be jogging again for at least six weeks, but even after that, he says his days of jogging outdoors are over.
“I started to enjoy running outside, but I’m not going to take that chance anymore. Running outside is too dangerous. People just don’t pay attention,” Cerse said. “Car drivers have to realize that other people outside of the road have just as much right to use that little bit of road, not the entire road, but just enough for safety.”
North Carolina Highway Patrol troopers are looking for a white pickup truck that was traveling along Cameron Road and Welcome-Arcadia Road on Jan. 24 between 2:15 p.m. and 2:30 p.m.
