MINNEAPOLIS — Minneapolis Police are still investigating a felony hit-and-run that injured an accomplished ballroom dancer earlier this month near the intersection of 27th Street and Lyndale Avenue South.
Robert Foster, a three-time national champion in the late 1990s and early 2000s, was riding a Lime scooter north on Lyndale around 9:45 p.m. on Nov. 5 when a car hit him from behind, according to his daughter, Cara. Although Robert was alert enough to speak with first responders and other pedestrians on scene, he suffered multiple seizures at the hospital later. Doctors then placed him on a ventilator and induced him into a medical coma.
"He's never had any medical issues before, and all of the sudden, he's seizing and on a ventilator. It just makes your stomach drop and you start going into panic mode," Cara Foster said. "I was very, very scared."
Luckily, Robert made quick progress in the hospital and came home this past weekend.
Remarkably, he did not break any bones and has even started walking again, although the injury to his brain has impaired some of his functions.
"He's able to walk, but he's very slow. It's a bit of a bummer especially since he's a ballroom dancer. He loves moving and grooving, and literally the first thing he did when he got up was start dancing," Cara said. "The fact that he can't go as fast as [usual] is very frustrating for him right now, but we're focusing on him resting and he's done really well."
An MPD spokesperson said Tuesday that "this remains an OPEN/ACTIVE case" but added "there have been no arrests." The police report for the incident lists just one car involved, classified as a "partial plate/unknown vehicle."
Cara said the situation is very frustrating for her family.
"We just want any sort of answer," she said. "It was probably a mistake, but we just want to have that closure and be able to get rid of our worries. Because we've had a lot lately."
The family created a GoFundMe to help with Robert's medical expenses during his recovery. As of Tuesday evening, that page had raised nearly $15,000 in donations.
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