Joggers hit by driver have long recovery ahead of them

NORTH FULTON COUNTY, Ga. — Pay attention to the road. That’s the message from a Sandy Springs man after Roswell police say a driver plowed into him and his wife as they went for a jog a few weeks ago.

Police have charged that driver, Khianni Jackson, with nearly a dozen crimes after they said the Stone Mountain man careened into a parked car, then hit Devon and Jill Phelps, before crashing into a power pole on Willeo Road on March 20.

"Just talking and all of a sudden I remember feeling an impact," Phelps told Channel 2's Mike Petchenik in an exclusive interview.  "I remember folding over a little bit and then waking up back down where the path is, almost in the Chattahoochee River."

Phelps’ leg was badly broken in several places.

“They had to do surgery on me in that first two hours to keep blood flow going so they didn’t have to amputate my leg,” he said.

His wife, Jill, suffered a skull, leg and elbow fracture, as well as a lacerated liver.

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“She’s also got a crushed nerve so she can’t smile or anything right now,” he said.  “That should heal but they don’t know.”

The Marine Corps veteran and his wife, who is a teacher, were in a hospital for more than a week.

“Thankfully we have family helping us, but they can only stay for so long.  We have two kids,” he said. “Changing a diaper for our youngest is almost impossible now.”

Now that Phelps is out of the Marines, he said his insurance is going to end in June.

“The good coverage is only for active duty people,” he said.  “So, hopefully most of the hospital bills will be done with by then, but physical therapy won’t be. If my MCL/ACL is torn, that will be another surgery and honestly, we don’t have the money for it at all.”

Phelps' family has set up a website where people can donate to help offset some of the costs.

As he recovers, he has a message for Jackson and anyone else who gets behind the wheel.

“Pay attention while you’re driving because no one deserves to go through this,” he said. "Not at all.”

Cox Media Group