Kauai woman dies of injuries nearly a month after hit and run e-bike crash
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) - Loved ones of a Kauai woman struck in a hit-and-run last month are seeking answers. They say the beloved grandmother of 16 died more than four weeks after the crash.
Jackie Sua said her mom, 63-year-old Linda Jester, rode on her e-bike daily to stay active.
On Saturday, Oct. 14, Jester was on her e-bike heading home to Hanamaulu on Kuhio Highway at Mile Marker 1 when she was struck by a driver from behind just before sunset.
“She was hit off her bike, and she said that the person’s mirror had flown,” said Sua. “It took maybe like eight cars before someone stopped to help her up, and she remembered, you know, like, a tire going past her ear.”
Sua said her mom’s pelvis was shattered and had internal bruising from the crash.
She was flown to Queen’s Medical Center in Honolulu for surgery and discharged 18 days later.
But Sua said her recovery wasn’t going well.
Jester passed away on Nov. 6. “She was just in excruciating pain,” said Sua. “She went to pee, and she was just hunched down on the toilet, and they tried to do CPR; they had to pull her off and try to do the attempt.”
“So, we’re just waiting for the autopsy and everything.”
Sua said there’s been a delay in the police investigation for her mom’s crash because it initially wasn’t fatal.
Nearly five weeks have passed since the crash, and now she and her siblings are desperately looking for any information that could help lead police to the driver.
“I feel sad, I feel hurt and disappointed in the community like we don’t do that to each other, we render aid, we stop,” said Sua. “Yes, the accident happened, but we stop; you see if they’re OK.”
“If you like run away or whatever, you know, you stop, and you know, we just, we don’t do that to each other; we live in Hawaii with Aloha.”
Jester’s death is at least the fifth traffic fatality so far this year on Kauai. That compares to three in all of 2022.
Hawaii News Now reached out to Kauai Police and await hearing back.
The family is offering $5,000 in cash for information leading to the driver’s conviction.
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