Eric Damtoft doesn’t remember the moment he was hit from behind on his bicycle and thrown into the rear windshield of a car in front of him.
The 23-year-old Bethesda resident was bicycling home after running a few errands when he was hit at about 1:30 p.m. on Friday in the right lane of northbound Old Georgetown Road.
The driver who hit Damtoft fled the scene. Damtoft was rushed to the Trauma Center at nearby Suburban Hospital, where doctors gave him many stitches, staples and CT and MRI scans to treat a head injury and lacerations on his face.
“I don’t remember anything at all from the time of the collision until after I had been at the hospital for a while,” Damtoft told BethesdaNow.com. “I remember little bits and pieces, things are sort of coming into more focus. But the first thing I really distinctively remember is when some of my family members got to the hospital.”
Damtoft was released from Suburban later Friday night and said he’s feeling a lot better.
Later this week, he’ll go back to the hospital to get his stitches and staples removed. But doctors told him to rest at home for at least another week.
The collision happened on Old Georgetown Road just south of Lucas Lane, a short distance from the hospital and a short distance from Damtoft’s home near Old Georgetown Road and McKinley Street.
Damtoft described himself as a bicycling enthusiast. Until Friday, the most trouble he had bicycling in downtown Bethesda was of the routine nature.
“I’ve run into issues most any cyclist does — people honking at you and so on,” Damtoft said. “But I’ve never been in any kind of collision that I’ve got injured in.”
Police on the scene said the driver who hit Damtoft and fled was in a brown-colored sedan.
The driver of the vehicle in front of Damtoft during the collision remained on the scene. Her car’s rear windshield had been smashed by the impact.
“I can only imagine that the driver who hit me didn’t see me,” said Damtoft, who’s hoping a witness comes forward with more information on the driver’s vehicle.
“I think the best thing would be for drivers to be more aware that cyclists are out there on the road,” Damtoft said. “I think a lot of them just don’t expect it.”
