Witnesses asked to come forward after blind man struck by vehicle

Photo: Contributed

Justin Kilpatrick was struck by a vehicle as he walked near Harvey Avenue and Gordon Drive on May 3, 2023.

The brother of a Kelowna man is asking for public help to track down the vehicle that struck and injured his brother, who is blind.

Daniel Kilpatrick tells Castanet that his brother, Justin, 43, was walking in the parking lot of the A&W near the corner of Harvey Avenue and Gordon Drive around 5 p.m. on Wednesday, May 3, when he was knocked over by a vehicle.

Daniel says the vehicle, which his brother thinks was a truck, did not remain at the scene.

“I mean, he’s blind, so there wasn’t a whole lot that he could say other than all of a sudden you hear a truck and he thought that it sounded like a diesel truck. It was really close and then, all of a sudden, he just got hit,” said Kilpatrick.

He says Justin had to crawl over to an area where he heard people and ask for help. “Once he got some help, they were able to call the ambulance and bring him to the hospital.”

Justin suffered a dislocated shoulder and broken ribs and is recovering at home.

Kelowna RCMP did attend the scene. Media relations officer Const. Mike Della-Paolera said that officers did a full canvass of the neighbourhood for surveillance and possible witnesses with no results.

Daniel Kilpatrick posted a plea on the Kelowna Alert Facebook group asking anyone who might have witnessed the hit-and-run to report what they saw to the RCMP.