Decatur Man and His Dog Hit By Car

DECATUR, Ga. (MyFOX ATLANTA) - A trip to the dog park turned tragic when a Decatur man said Thursday a driver struck him and his dog and then kept going. The hit-and-run happened as the pair was crossing the street.

The victim said he was using the crosswalk when a driver plowed into him and his pet. The animal is now scheduled for risky surgery, but the ending could have been different if it weren't for a Good Samaritan.

Mädchen, which means girl in German, is a Border terrier mix. Now, Mädchen's owner is calling her lucky.

Mädchen's hind leg was injured in the accident and it now must be amputated. But the adopted pet is still alive after Reed Thodeson said a hit-and-run driver left her to die on a Decatur street.

Thodeson said he was just starting crossing the street when the driver of a purple truck went around a MARTA bus and slammed into him and his dog.

"Didn't make any indication they were going to stop, then took off," recalled Thodeson.

Thodeson said the truck's mirror grazed his arm, but his pet was left bleeding in rough shape.

"I picked her up and started to carry her. And there was this really nice guy who stopped," said Thodeson.

"It was a pretty shocking moment," said Good Samaritan Adam Young.

Young said he saw the accident happen from just feet away.

"He didn't just glance over it, he ran over the dog," said Young.

Young had Thodeson and Mädchen get into his car and then raced them to the animal hospital, they arrived just two minutes before closing time.

"You can't watch something like that happen and drive home and sit on the couch and have a snack and wonder how it all turned out. There's no way I could do that," said Young.

"I'm really thankful he was there and we wouldn't have made it without him," said Thodeson.

Both Thodeson and Young said they weren't able to get a license plate because the tags were on the passenger side glass, behind darkened windows. Both men said it was a purple truck with chrome on the bumper.