SARASOTA COUNTY, Fla. — He now has trouble walking and wears a brace around his neck, but Eric Malcolm III said he’s lucky to be alive.
“I’m one of the ones that made it, so I am very fortunate,” he said.
The Tampa man said he survived a hit-and-run on July 12 around 8:45 p.m.
Malcolm was driving a friend from Tampa International Airport to Sarasota. Because of a faulty needle in his gauge, his car ran out of gas on I-75 southbound just feet away from the Bee Ridge Road exit in Sarasota County.
“So what I did was pull over on the side of the road right at the edge of the exit,” he said.
He called the Road Rangers for help but then learned a gas station was just a five-minute walk away.
“So I was like, ‘Well, I’ll go ahead and just walk up there and grab some gas,’” he said.
Malcolm said he left his friend in his truck and began walking in the grass just off the road from I-75 toward the nearby exit ramp.
Then, something happened. Malcolm lost consciousness.
He blacked out multiple times and regained consciousness face down in the grass near Cattlemen Road in excruciating pain.
“My vision was very blurry. I pushed myself up off the ground, and I screamed in a lot of pain,” he remembered. “It all felt like a dream.”
Malcolm said a good Samaritan spotted him and called 911.
According to Malcolm, when Sarasota County deputies responded, they mistakenly thought he was lying in the grass because he was under the influence of drugs or alcohol. Because of the lack of consciousness, Malcolm also didn’t know what had happened to him.
“For a minute, it felt like I was kidnapped and beat up and threw on the ground. It just felt that way,” he said. “I didn’t know what happened to me.”
But once he was transported to Sarasota Memorial Hospital, he figured it out because of the extent of his injuries: a broken left scapula, torn left meniscus, fractured lumbar, fractured neck, and sprained ankles.
“I’m 100% sure I was hit by a car,” he said. “Nothing else could have done it.”
According to the Sarasota County Sheriff’s Office, it is now investigating the possible hit and run and hopes anyone with information will come forward.
Malcolm hopes so too, because he worries the case could go unsolved at this point.
“Man, that has to be a heartless, careless person to be able to do something like that and keep going,” he said. “Hopefully, with the help of the public and social media that things can turn around.”
Malcolm said he doesn’t want to second-guess himself but hopes people will think twice before walking along any interstate or highway.
If you have information about the possible hit and run, contact Sarasota County Crime Stoppers at 941-366-TIPS (8477).
