Nurse severely hurt in hit-and-run while cycling from New Orleans Jazz Fest, lawyer says

A 34-year-old nurse was hospitalized after a hit-and-run driver struck her while she was cycling away from the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, according to her lawyer.

“Life as she knows it, from a sense of normalcy, is over,” Charlie Thomas told McClatchy News.

Katherine Elkins was cycling away from Jazz Fest toward the French Quarter with her boyfriend and a friend when she was struck by a vehicle shortly after 9 p.m. on April 29, according to police and Elkins’ sister.

The vehicle fled the scene, and first responders took her to a hospital, according to the New Orleans Police Department.

A spokeswoman for the department told McClatchy News that a suspect has not been identified.

Elkins suffered a traumatic brain injury, many broken bones, a lacerated liver and damaged carotid arteries, her sister, Emily Treppendahl, told McClatchy News.

Treppendahl said Ekins’ boyfriend called her after she was taken from the scene in an ambulance. She got on a flight to New Orleans the following morning at 6 a.m.

“I didn’t sleep,” she said. “I pretty much stayed awake until the flight. (It’s) gut-wrenching.”

It’s unclear what long-term effects Elkins will have, but it’s likely she won’t be able to go back to work for at least six months, her sister said.

“She won’t be able to drive, she won’t be able to stand at work,” she said. “It’d be devastating. She’s going to be very bored and very frustrated. She’s not very good at sitting still.”

Treppendahl called her sister an “awesome caretaker” and a “wonderful aunt” to her two nephews.

“She’s extremely active,” she said. “She has friends from here to Timbuktu, and she never meets a stranger.”

Thomas said in a statement that he wanted the New Orleans Police Department to dedicate more resources to finding the driver. Members of the community identified the vehicle that fled as a white Acura TL, he said.

“When something like this happens, we consider it to be a violent crime,” the statement says. “We expect (the New Orleans Police Department) to commit the necessary resources to catch this person and send a message that fleeing from a crash like this won’t be tolerated.”

Treppendahl said she created a GoFundMe page for her sister and appreciated any help from community members.

“She just did not deserve this,” she said.

This story was originally published May 5, 2023 at 1:13 PM with the headline "Nurse severely hurt in hit-and-run while cycling from New Orleans Jazz Fest, lawyer says."