SALEM, Ind. -- (WDRB) A Salem, Indiana teenager is facing criminal charges after, police say, he ran over one of his own classmates in his truck and then kept driving.
The victim spoke only to WDRB today as he left the hospital.
Logan Harding doesn't remember much, but he was walking to school when he was struck by the hit-and-run driver.
He wasn't discovered for nearly a half hour as he lay unconscious in a ditch.
Logan left Kosair Childrens Hospital just 36 hours after he was run over by a hit and run driver as he walked to school early Friday morning.
"I don't remember anything. The only thing I remember was being flown over in a helicopter," said Logan.
Logan was walking along this street when he was hit from behind and thrown to the side of the road. He was just a few hundred feet from his destination, Salem High School.
"It was amazing actually that he's here. They said the boy, the young man, is sorry for what happened and things like that. But we're still a little bit upset and angry about it all," said Logan's mother, Christina.
Logan lay unconscious in a ditch for nearly 30 minutes before a passerby saw his shoes in the street, and then found Logan.
"I'd like to thank her a lot. It's a really good thing that she did. Really helped me out," said Logan.
Logan says he barely knows the 16-year-old classmate who now faces criminal charges.
"When I heard his name, I didn't know who he was or anything. He isn't really a close friend. You need to watch out what you're doing when you're driving so things like this don't happen," said Logan.
But soon Logan will return to the football field and play once again for the Salem Lions. Thankful that the truck first hit the backpack he was carrying, and that apparently saved his life.
"I love backpacks now," said Logan. "It saved my life."
"We're going to keep the backpack. It's a reminder that you never know when it could happen or what could happen," said Christina Harding. "But I'm just ecstatic that he's alive and well."
The teenage suspect is charged with leaving the scene of an accident and criminal recklessness.
Right now, he is in juvenile detention pending a hearing in juvenile court on Tuesday.
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