Dubai: A Sharjah-based man who set out to run across America was this week hospitalised after being hit by a pick-up truck.
Early on Wednesday last week in Ohio, 53-year-old Nicholas Ashill, a marketing professor from the American University of Sharjah, was knocked down by an unknown vehicle that fled the scene.
He was airlifted to hospital where he underwent surgery for serious fractures to his right leg and his pelvis.
“We are very relieved that he has no damage to internal organs and that the bump to his head isn’t serious,” Ashill’s wife Sarah wrote on his website, Nickrunsamerica.com.
In a bedside photo, Ashill was seen smiling. The two had been on a Skype call when the accident took place.
“Doctors are happy with the progress he’s making, however it looks like we’re going to be here a while! Thank you to you all for your love and support, we are very grateful!” the update added.
It is not known whether Ashill will continue his adventure.
Ashill’s goal was to run 5,400 kilometres coast-to-coast, from Los Angeles to New York, to raise awareness about lung disease.
His tough trek had led some US media outlets to dub him as ‘Forrest Gump’ — a reference to Tom Hanks’s 1994 film about a maverick who runs across America.
Ashill originally planned to run 50km per day, every day, and take a day off every week once he reached a good way along.
The Ohio State Highway Patrol are appealing to the public for any information on the driver.
