Ball State junior Steffanie Gardner laid with her head on the curb of Riverside Avenue after she was hit by the car of David Solis, 29, of Muncie, while riding her bike to class Thursday.
The windshield of Solis's car looked like a spider web of glass where Gardner had impacted it. She said the collision knocked her out.
"My whole body was numb," said Gardner, child life specialist major. "I was just praying to God that I was going to stay alive, but I couldn't see or move or anything."
"But I could hear, and I could hear the guy in the car freaking out."
Gardner was taken to IU Health Ball Memorial Hospital around 6:30 p.m. on Thursday and was treated and released on Sunday, according to the University Police Department.
"I punctured a lung. I hurt my left clavicle, and I broke my right scapula and my right ankle," Gardner said.
Gardner said she won't be able to make it to her classes on campus but that the dean of students came to visit her, and Gardner hopes they will be able to work out some kind of system so she won't be forced to miss weeks of school.
Authorities are unsure at this time if the sun was a factor in the incident.
When officers arrived on scene, several students were already assisting the victim.
Senior Kristen Vincenty said she was walking home from University Theatre when she heard a crash and ran to see what happened.
"I just heard the screeching of brakes," Vincenty said.
The senior, who is CPR certified, saw the victim on the ground and immediately went to help.
"I yelled not to touch her because I saw some people trying to move her," she said. "We were all trying to help."
Several other Ball State students also tried to help Gardner, who said she was on her way to the Arts and Communications building at the time of the accident.
"They need to have sidewalks on [both sides of] Riverside," Gardner said. "That's a tough road right there. It would be different if I was going to the Teachers College because I could go to the Scramble Light."
"People have to be very careful. [Solis] wasn't in the wrong, but you've just got to be extra careful on a bike."
Junior Alyssa Meyer said she was heading home from Ultimate Frisbee practice when she witnessed the accident. Meyer, also CPR certified and a lifeguard, held the student's hand and talked to her while they were waiting for help to arrive.
"I asked if she could hold my hand," said Meyer, "She kept saying that it was her fault, but we were telling her that it was OK."
Gardner said she is now wearing a boot and using a walker to get around. She said she hopes to be getting around on her own within about a month.
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