Court day and Victim Statement

November 14th 2017

Victim Impact Statement

State of Florida vs. Ernsy Saint-Aude.

Honorable Judge,

The actions of defendant have greatly affected my life. Since the hit and run while jogging across the seminole trial crossing on Tuscora in Winter Springs, Florida at 1:00pm in the afternoon February 20th 2017 I have not been able to walk. It has been 10 months since I have been mobile on my two legs. Along with my leg being run over and torn apart by the vehicle he was driving, the impact of the vehicle on my body resulted in six broken bones and a head injury. If not for good samaritans finding me and an ambulance taking me to the hospital in time, I would have bled out in the street and died.

Since the incident I have had a great deal of physical, emotional, and financial hardship. The physical process of recovery has taken a great toll on my body. I have been jogging on the Cross Seminole Trial for over 10 years. I am a yoga instructor, and I am a marine activist and an outreach educator with the University of Central Florida marine labs. My whole life is dedicated to activity. In the past 10 months I have had two surgeries resulting from this assault and will be permanently changed in my right leg forever. I am fused in my ankle resulting in 2 plates, 12 screws, and limited range of motion. I will never walk the same along with changing my activities forever, no jogging, awkward yoga shapes while I demo for students, and limited ability in marine exploration. Also, pain, arthritis and strain that arrises from certain movements will be a constant reminder that I am not the same.

The emotional process of recovery has resulted in panic attacks, reflecting on the incident and the thought of my future. I have sleepless nights and feel hopeless at times as I sit and stare at the wall unable to get up and walk outside.

A great strain was also placed on my family. Not only from the implanted memory of a wife, a daughter lying on a metal slab with her foot hanging off of her leg in the emergency room but the care taking involved in recovery of a person with heavily bodily injury.

Along with the physical and emotional hardships I’ve gone through great stress with deep financial impacts. Not only have I had two surgeries, I have had many doctors appointments and hours of physical therapy to bring me back to life. My medicals bills exceed 220,000 dollars, and I have been out of work and will not be returning to my physical capabilities which will bring a great loss to my future career.

I understand an accident, I get that life is not filled with glitter and cake. This was not an accident, this was an assault. The defendant was not paying attention, did not follow rules of driving a vehicle, hit and then ran over me with his vehicle and then left me for dead. I will spend the rest of my life in my new bionic limited mobility body. The impact of this incident is for a lifetime.

Result: Ernsy Saint-Aude pled no contest. There were no witnesses to place him at the scene. I did not see him and my last memory was a dark vehicle at my side. He had went to the police later that day because he was driving a company vehicle. A dark vehicle, a truck in fact. He said he had hit "something". He also has no insurance and the owner of the truck did not pay the premium and the insurance had relapsed. He was first charged with a felony, leaving the scene of heavily bodily injuring but the state later dropped it to a misdemeanor because there was no case. He was ordered to pay restitution in the amount of 8,745 dollars for co-pays but I have received nothing.

And by the way. He apologized in court after the plea was accepted.