Paul Adams’ mother told media Wednesday that she’s relieved the driver accused of striking her son and leaving him severely injured along a Minnehaha area road has been arrested.
But she’s still angry.
Nancy Peterson said she was too angry to go to Joshua Allen Johnson’s first appearance earlier that day in Clark County Superior Court.
“I hate that man. I know hate is a big word, but I hate that man,” Peterson said from PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center, where her son is recovering from his injuries.
“And every day I come up here and see my son, I hate him even more. The pain that I see in my son is just unbearable to me,” she said. “This is my son that I’ve seen walk and run and play with his son. And now they’re saying he’s going to be wheelchair-bound for the rest of his life.”
Adams, 34, was walking along the shoulder in the 4100 block of Northeast 54th Avenue shortly before 2 a.m. Feb. 20 when a red 2002 Nissan Sentra, allegedly driven by Johnson, struck him, according to court records.
A passer-by discovered Adams lying severely injured along the road. He suffered two shattered legs; a broken left arm, back and ribs; and a head laceration, his mother said, and he was in a coma for nearly 2½ weeks. A hospital spokesman said Wednesday that Adams is now in satisfactory condition.
His lower left leg was amputated about a week ago, and there were concerns that he’d also lose his right leg. Adams has another surgery planned Friday to replace a missing piece of bone in his right leg, his mother said.
Peterson planned to attend Johnson’s first court appearance, she said, but her husband begged her not to go.
“I listened to him. And I’m glad that I did because he’s right. He was reading my mind because it’s the only reason I wanted to go to that court today. I wanted to get at that man. I wanted to tell him just what I thought of him. And in that courtroom with that judge was not the right place to tell him,” she said.
Peterson said that her son smiled when he heard the news of Johnson’s arrest.
She estimates that in three to four weeks, Adams will be sent to the hospital’s rehabilitation floor, where he will spend several months preparing to come home. She said he will have to learn how to navigate the stairs in their home.
And although it’s going to be a long road to recovery and justice, she said her family is ready for it.
“I can be happy because he is alive. No legs, one leg, my son is alive, no thanks to Josh, but he is alive,” Peterson said.
