BILLINGS — A Yellowstone County man underwent surgery Monday after being struck on the side of Highway 312 early Sunday morning in a hit-and-run accident.
Zachary Carson, 31, was walking home from Ballantine towards Huntley around 2:00 a.m. Sunday, according to his father Michael Carson. Zachary was then hit by a car about 100 feet north of N. 13th Road in Worden and tossed into the ditch beside the highway.
After coming to, Carson struggled to find help.
"He was trying to crawl up on the road and wave somebody down," Michael Carson said. "He just happened to slide over his phone, and that’s when he called me."
Luckily for Zachary, his dad answered that call, because he wouldn’t get another chance.
"He was only able to make one phone call and then his phone went dead," Michael said. "Something was watching over him."
After receiving his son's phone call, Michael called 911 and said there were numerous police cars on scene by the time he and his neighbors arrived. An officer got Zachary into a car with a blanket wrapped around him to get him out of the cold rain. An ambulance eventually transported him to St. Vincent's hospital in Billings.
"My biggest worry was that he had internal injuries, that he was bleeding inside," Michael said.
Doctors cleared that concern, but Zachary was taken into surgery for heavy damage to his left leg. He’s expected to make a recovery, so now dad's attention has turned to the driver.
"His medical bills are going to be extravagant, so if he has insurance, I want him to pay for it," Michael said. "But I want the guy to be punished for leaving my son on the side of the road to die. That was my son. I wish you would be a gentleman and turn yourself in."
Zachary did not get a look at the car, according to his dad. The Montana Highway Patrol said a couple of dark-colored pieces from a car were recovered at the scene, but they do not have an idea of a make or model as of now.
