BSO presents check, new bicycle to hit-and-run victim

Collette Nichols injured in September while pedaling home from work

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. ā€“ Collette Nichols was pedaling her way home from work Sept. 9 when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver in Pompano Beach.

The 47-year-old security guard was riding her bicycle near Southwest 26th Avenue and Southwest Third Street when she was struck. She suffered injuries to her skull, neck and leg that have kept her out of work ever since.

Although she has been trying to get back to work, her medical expenses have stood in her way. Not anymore.

Nichols was presented Tuesday with a check for $275 from the Broward Sheriff's Office. Although it may not seem like much, it will help her pay her last medical bills.

For someone who has never been to a hospital and worked all her life, it was a major fork in the road.

"She did everything she was supposed to do, never asking for anything," BSO Victim Service Unit advocate Rosemary Baker said.

The BSO's Victim Services Unit also gave Nichols food vouchers to buy groceries and a new bicycle to help her get back on her feet.

"I greatly appreciate it," Nichols said.

Nichols said she's determined to get back to a normal life, and those who helped her said her positivity made the process much easier.

"She did what she could to help herself," Baker said.

Nichols said she's not mad at the hit-and-run driver, but she is disappointed.

"No one has control over the past," Nichols said. "The only thing we have control of is the present, and we have to take (control of our) own level of responsibilities."

Nichols is planning to return to work Friday.


About the Author:

In January 2017, Hatzel Vela became the first local television journalist in the country to move to Cuba and cover the island from the inside. During his time living and working in Cuba, heĀ covered some of the most significant stories in a post-Fidel Castro Cuba.Ā