LEBANON, Tenn. (WTVF) — A 57-year-old man faces charges after state troopers say he struck a woman walking along a Lebanon road early Sunday morning, leaving her with serious injuries, including a brain bleed and multiple broken bones.
Kirk Allan Thomas is charged with DUI and vehicular assault, according to a Tennessee Highway Patrol preliminary report.
According to that preliminary report, Thomas entered the right shoulder of the roadway and struck a pedestrian, then the car crossed back over the center lane and struck a utility pole on the other side of the street.
According to her friends and roommates, Bennifer Burk was walking along West Baddour Parkway near Don Fox Park sometime between 5 and 7 a.m. Sunday, when she was hit by a vehicle. She was heading to work at the time.
Burk's roommates — Bridgett Hunter, Lauren Decker and Miles DeValve — said her memory of the incident is limited.
"The most she remembers is she was walking, she heard the sound of the truck coming towards her, and then she got hit, and she remembers just waking up in the hospital," Hunter said.
The group described the extent of Burk's injuries.
"Doctors are saying that she has a brain bleed, and she has multiple broken bones in her face and her ribs, and it's just, really, just devastating," Hunter said.
Recovery is expected to be lengthy.
"The most word we have is that it could take upwards of eight months to a year or longer for recovery," said Lauren Decker.
The roommates describe Burk as someone who means a great deal to those around her.
"One of the kindest people you would ever meet. She just, she has this light about her," Hunter said.
The four had formed a close bond, living together with some other roommates.
"We're all early 20s, like it's we've kind of made our own sort of family amongst each other," Hunter said.
The Tennessee Highway Patrol is investigating the crash, but the roommates are asking anyone who may have been in the area Sunday morning to come forward.
"Anybody who could have been in the area, maybe going to work or coming home from work, who maybe drove by the scene, or maybe witnessed it happen, just any information that we could gather, we would greatly appreciate it," Hunter said.
Click here to see a GoFundMe the roommates set up to help Bennifer Burk.
Do you have more information about this story? You can email me at robb.coles@newschannel5.com.
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