Two AU students injured in a hit-and-run near Tenley Circle continue to recover after the driver of the vehicle involved in the incident identified himself to police.
Mohammed Niaz told police during a sworn statement that he had been driving the car at the time of the incident, according to Stephanie Mardell, one of the students injured in the incident and a senior in the School of International Service and the College of Arts and Sciences.
Niaz, the owner of the car, had previously told police he had been a passenger in the car at the time of the incident and that a friend had been driving it for him, according to NBC4.com. Mardell, who had been informed by police about Niaz's statements the day she spoke to The Eagle, said Niaz told police he invented a fictional driver. Niaz was not supposed to be driving at the time because his license was under suspension.
Mardell said she would not comment on the incident itself because of ongoing legal action.
NBC4.com reported two unnamed AU students, whom The Eagle has identified as Mardell and Michael Glick, a senior in the School of Public Affairs and the School of Communication, were crossing Nebraska Avenue at the crosswalk nearest to Tenley Circle at 11 p.m. on March 15 when Niaz allegedly struck them while driving his light blue four-door Honda Accord. The impact shattered the vehicle's windshield and knocked both students unconscious.
Mardell said she sustained tears to two of the four major ligaments in her right knee, as well as a tibial spine fracture to the same knee. When the knee sustains a tibial spine fracture, the upper portion of the tibia, or "shinbone" fractures in multiple places where it connects to the knee. Glick broke six of his ribs, a vertebra and his jaw. He also received lacerations to his face and currently doesn't have feeling in part of his right arm.
Mardell had surgery on Friday to repair the damage. She said Glick was recovering at his family's home in Lancaster, Pa., and had not gone through any surgery at that time.
Mardell said she believes Glick, whom she has been dating, saved her from receiving more serious injuries.
"He is my hero because he pushed me at the last minute, according to one of the witnesses at the scene," she said. "That basically saved me from further injury or death. So he saved my life. We both blacked out - the car knocked us out of our shoes when we were struck. So we were both unconscious. Afterward, the police officer told me that a witness stated that he had pushed me out of the way at the last minute."
After Mardell was injured, her mother traveled from Minnesota to D.C. to help care for her. Since she has had to alternate between using crutches or a wheelchair since being injured, Mardell said she's found it difficult not to have mobility.
"I guess it's difficult because you really take advantage of mobility and now I've lost that," she said. "My mom had to come here just to help me out with the little things. Getting dressed and making yourself food become so difficult without that mobility."
Mardell said that since she and Glick are seniors, their recovery has meant also continuing to work toward graduation. She said she's gotten support from many sources, including the "second family" she lives with on New Mexico Avenue. The office of the dean of students called her mother on a near-daily basis to see if there was anything they could do to help, while the College of Arts and Sciences sent her flowers. She said her professors and Disability Services were also very supportive.
"Really, the AU community has done so much to help us out during this time, as have friends, teachers and Greek Life," Mardell said.
