A Northeast Philadelphia grandmother is speaking out about the hit-and-run accident that she says changed her life.
Back on September 8, Rosalie Trinsey, 72, was heading home from the Frankford Avenue Bingo Hall when she was struck by the car.
“I looked up and I saw a car coming at me,” said Trinsey. “All I could see were the headlights.”
Surveillance video obtained exclusively by NBC10 shows a black car, possibly a Nissan Maxima, that police believe struck Trinsey and then sped off. A witness ran into the street to try and record the license plate as the car turned right onto Wellington. Clara Griffin, who works at a store nearby the scene of the accident, rushed to Trinsey’s side.
“Everything was scattered,” said Griffin. “Her pocket book was 30 feet this way. It was raining so I just ran in and got blankets to cover her up.”
“I thought I was dying,” said Trinsey. “I really thought when he hit me that would be the end of it.”
Trinsey spent six days in intensive care and nearly a month in the hospital for a fractured pelvis, shattered shin and shattered knee. Her leg remains swollen nearly a month and a half since the accident.
“I just want them to know I went through a lot of suffering with that pain,” said Trinsey while in tears. “I never thought I was going to get out of the hospital.”
Trinsey currently can’t bathe by herself or cook for her grandchildren. She also says she doesn’t know when she’ll return to her beloved Bingo. She and her family hope that someone recognizes the black car that struck her.
“Just own up to what you did and come forward,” said Rosalie Ferrante, Trinsey’s granddaughter. "She’s my guardian angel and to think I actually almost lost that really hurts.”
"It’s just awful that somebody could just hit an old lady and keep going and still not turn themselves in to this day," said Griffin. "I hope somebody does."
If you have any information on this incident, please call Philadelphia Police.
