One man remains hospitalized with a long road to recovery, while two others are wanted by Palmer Lake police after a recent hit-and-run crash involving a motorcycle.

On June 23 around 8 p.m., Nathan Mitchem, a 33-year-old father and husband, was driving his motorcycle on Colorado 105 between Palmer Lake and Monument when he was struck by a pickup truck and  thrown from his motorcycle, police said.

Police identified the driver allegedly responsible as Brent Gilmer, a resident of Palmer Lake. Gilmer and another occupant, an unnamed person of interest, fled the scene on foot, police said.

Multiple posts on Facebook under the name of Brent D. Gilmer claim that he is innocent. “Law enforcement should already have all the evidence to know damn well I didn’t do it,” Gilmer said in a post.

“If he truly is innocent of the accusations made against him, then he holds vital information that the PLPD needs in order to ensure proper justice for the victim and his family,” Palmer Lake police said.

Gilmer is wanted on charges of vehicular assault and reckless driving, police said.

“How can somebody have just run over a human being and not even think twice about it and just take off?” Tareja Mitchem, Nathan’s wife, said.

Susan Coleman was a few cars behind the truck that hit Nathan Mitchem. As she was driving up the hill, she saw pieces of the motorcycle fly across the street, and then she saw him face down on the ground, helmet still on, and a group of people around him.

“He’s a very very lucky man,” Coleman said. “With just how the bike was and how much pain he was in, I didn’t expect him to survive.”

Coleman said a group of six to eight people, including she and her son, helped stabilize Mitchem until medics arrived.

“It wasn’t just one person that was a hero that day. Everyone who stopped was. It was a unified circle,” she said.

Tareja Mitchem said that Nathan told her of being under the truck at one point.

“He told me he was laying there, and he was just thinking ‘am I ever going to see my kids again?’” she said.

Tareja Mitchem was notified of the crash about two hours after it happened. She rushed to the emergency room to find her husband with cuts, bruises and road rash .

The doctor told her that his neck, back and right cheek bone were fractured and that his ACL was torn. The surgeon said it was ‘essentially a miracle’ that Nathan avoided more damage to his leg and that he avoided amputation.

Tareja was told the reason Nathan survived was because he was wearing his helmet, which can be seen in pictures with a very deep crack. Another thing short of a miracle was that he suffered no concussion, she said.

Nathan’s recovery is expected to take at least a year, and there are concerns about the road ahead — especially over his leg injury, Tareja said.

Nathan is worried about his knee and if he will have full feeling in his foot or if he will have to wear a permanent brace.

Nathan’s health isn’t the only concern for the Mitchem family, which includes two young children.

Nathan has been the driving force behind their business Blue Spruce Mercantile, a liquidation and retail store in northern Colorado Springs, since it opened late last year. Much of his work requires him to unload pallets of heavy product, Tareja said.

The Mitchems are also without health insurance.

While the circumstances are dire, the Mitchem are receiving support from their faith community as well as through contributions on a GoFundMe page, which has seen nearly 200 donations.