SAN ANTONIO – A Fort Sam Houston soldier is in critical condition after he was hit by a runaway driver Monday morning in Kirby.
Matthew Belknap, 36, was riding his bicycle to work at San Antonio Military Medical Center when he was struck. Kirby police said witnesses stopped to help him and got the driver’s information.
Police identified the driver as 25-year-old Marisa L. Ross, who was booked on felony charges for failing to stop and render aid and is also being investigated for driving under the influence.
Court records stated Ross was out on a $1,000 bond on a misdemeanor DWI charge from July 8.
Katie Belknap said her husband is expected to undergo several surgeries for a list of injuries he sustained to his body and head.
“It’s going to be a very long process, and, honestly, we don’t know what the outcome is going to be,” she said.
The tall, burly and happy man Katie Belknap knows is barely conscious in a hospital bed.
“When I was leaving I asked him if he’s in pain, he could shake his head yes. I said ‘I love you.’ And he shakes his head yes. He can squeeze my hand and give a thumbs up,” she said. “He can’t hold my hand. He can’t. He’s going to be all right. He’s alive. I don’t know who he’s going to be or what he’s going to be when he wakes up, but he’s alive.”
Matthew Belknap, who is from Oregon, joined the Army a year ago to provide for his family. He has four children and another one on the way.
Even through the pain, Katie Belknap said she has no ill will against the woman accused of nearly killing her husband.
“I don’t wish bad on her. I don’t hate her. It’s nothing like that,” she said. “I just want her to get help and realize that it not only changed my husband’s life, it changed our entire family.”
