MADISON COUNTY, Ind. (WISH) — An Anderson teen severely injured in a weekend hit-and-run accident said Wednesday he had forgiven the driver.

De’Shawn Nance, 16, was hit by a car Sunday around 3:30 p.m. while riding his bicycle on State Road 13, near Fall Creek Drive.

The driver fled the scene, authorities said, and remained at large Wednesday night.

The gray or silver car hit Nance traveling approximately 60 mph, flinging the teen at least 20 feet into the air, according to a witness.

“Once I was in the air, I closed my eyes because I was scared,” Nance told News 8. “I was thinking I was in the air for a very long time.”

He remained conscious after hitting the ground and opened his eyes to find himself in a ditch, unable to move his right leg.

Nance credited his friend with calling 911, talking him through the initial pain and “saving [his] life.”

“If [my friend] Michael hadn’t been there, I probably would have bled out and died,” he said. 

The two had been riding to a birthday party after church when the car swerved into their bike lane, they told investigators.

Nance was airlifted to IU Health Methodist Hospital in Indianapolis, where he underwent two operations for a broken femur and other injuries. He was discharged from the hospital Tuesday night.

He expects to make a full recovery but requires a third surgery, according to his mother, Ra’Shia Nance. She created a GoFundMe account to help cover medical expenses. 

“It literally felt like my heart was going to pump out of my chest when his youth pastor called to tell me about the accident,” she told News 8. “The driver mowed down my child and just left him there, like a rodent.”

Ra’Shia was “very proud” her son had chosen forgiveness over anger, she added.

“In my mind, I have to forgive him for hitting me because if I hold a grudge against him, it’s not going to do anything good for me,” he told News 8. “It’s funny because that Sunday morning in church, we were just talking about, ‘If God is so good, then why do we have people who get hit by cars? Why do we have drunk drivers?’”

Authorities were unable to confirm if the hit-and-run suspect was intoxicated.

Anybody with information about the accident is urged to contact Anderson-Madison County Crime Stoppers at 765-649-8310.