A UHart student was looking forward to returning to South Africa. A hit-and-run stymied her plans.

Sequoia Hornsby was just a little over two weeks away from finishing her sophomore year at the University of Hartford and returning home to visit her family in South Africa when her summer plans took a drastic turn.

On April 20, Hornsby was riding an electric scooter following behind her boyfriend on their way from the university campus to his apartment about three miles away when they suddenly heard the sound of a vehicle that appeared to be going faster than the other cars on Albany Avenue shortly before 10 p.m.

Without much time to react, Hornsby said was hit in the torso, causing her body to spin around and leaving her head in a vulnerable position where it was struck by what appeared to be the mirror on the vehicle.

“I remember the impact of being hit and feeling like I was flying and a rolling sensation and being hit again by what we assume is by the mirror,” Hornsby said. “But I was very alert for the whole time really.”

Hornsby’s boyfriend, Noah Carlson, was able to move out of the way with only the water bottle on his backpack being hit. He was able to pull his injured girlfriend out of the street to safety and call 911.

“I remember looking down and seeing my helmet hanging off around my neck broken,” Hornsby said. “I was very aware that, ‘Oh no, how am I alive?’ I thought my head was in a lot worse shape than it was. I was aware of the pain in my ribs, and the difficulty breathing and a severe pain in my arm, but I was very alert for all of that.

“I was more calm during the situation than I think I should have been,” she said. “Afterwards is when the trauma really hit and I had a moment to absorb everything.”

Carlson said first responders were at the scene within a minute, tending to Hornsby and gathering facts. The vehicle involved, described as a large box truck, never stopped to make sure Hornsby was OK and kept going, she and Carlson allege.

She was taken to an area hospital and treated for three fractured ribs, a bruised lung and a hematoma to her head.

“I was surprised because I thought from the feeling of being hit that I should be dead,” Hornsby said. “I couldn’t comprehend the fact that I was alive and had been hit.”

Carlson and Hornsby believe her injuries could have been a lot worse. They credit her metal laptop in her backpack with absorbing most of the blow and acting as a shield for her body. Thankfully, the couple said, she was wearing a helmet that was shattered on one side from the impact.

“It’s a miracle,” Carlson said. “Thankfully her backpack took most of the impact.”

Hornsby said her professors at the University of Hartford have been very understanding of the crash and have cut her slack with assignments coming in late as she recovers. But as for her trip back home to South Africa, doctors have told her she should not fly with broken ribs.

Hornsby said she has been in a fair amount of pain since spending about a day in the hospital, as she has avoided taking opioid pain relievers. She is also still dealing with the trauma involved in being struck during a crash and is looking at being out thousands of dollars without much recourse unless police can catch the driver involved.

Capt. Daniel Moffo of the West Hartford Police Department said that the crash remains under investigation.

Hornsby lost her MacBook Pro that she uses for school, her backpack containing other belongings and a nonrefundable airline ticket back home. Her scooter was also left unusable. She is on the state’s Husky Health insurance and is hoping for low deductibles.

“It’s a lot of loss on the material side,” Carlson said.

To help replace what she lost in the crash, Carlson and his family set up a GoFundMe to raise money. As of Friday, just under $1,700 had been raised toward the $2,000 goal.

Carlson, a senior at UHart, met Hornsby at the university a little more than a year ago. The two work at a restaurant in West Hartford together and usually spend the weekends at Carlson’s apartment to make their commute to work easier.

Hornsby said she is very grateful for the support system she has had in Carlson’s family, which includes his sister and mother, the latter of whom came to Connecticut from Virginia to help.

Despite all that she has endured, Hornsby said she has no ill will toward the driver involved.

“I don’t feel any anger or anything toward the driver,” she said, adding that she has mostly been feeling sadness that she won’t be able to visit home.

“I’m more confused than anything else,” Hornsby said. “I’m curious. I wish I could speak to them to hear what happened on their end. If they did see me. If they were drunk. If they thought that I was dead and felt it was better they get away and avoid the consequences of that.

“There have been a lot of questions going through my mind, but there’s no negative feelings really,” she said.