Kris Fine of Bellevue doesn’t remember the impact.
He does remember being face down on the grass, feeling tremendous pain in his hip and his shoulder.
The 57-year-old Fine was driving home from the pet store just after 6 p.m. on Oct. 14 when his Honda Civic was suddenly struck from behind. His car was forced up an embankment on Southeast 36th Street.
According to Bellevue police, Fine was hit by a Dodge Ram pickup truck driven by Derrick Coleman, and the Seattle Seahawk was traveling 60 miles an hour in a 35-mph zone.
According to police reports, Coleman admitted to smoking synthetic marijuana before the crash, which broke Fine's collarbone and caused a concussion.
Fine didn't know who hit him until the next day.
“My mom said, 'the guy who hit you is a football player.'”
Fine – who calls himself a Seahawks fan – is still in pain, and says he can't work as a computer support specialist because he can't lift heavy objects.
Both Fine and his lawyer, Evan Bariault, believe Coleman --- a role model for being the NFL's first legally deaf player ---- is still a good man.
“He is an individual that is admired, not only because he is a Seahawk but because of the many obstacles that he has overcome in his life,” Bariault said Wednesday morning.
“We expect him to continue to do good things, but just like anyone else, he needs to answer for this mistake.”
Fine is considering suing Coleman for damages, and has three years before the statute of limitations runs out.
Meanwhile, he claims to harbor no hard feelings against the 25-year-old Coleman: “No, none at all,” Fine said in his lawyer’s Seattle office.
“After I found out how old he is, everybody has to take responsibility for either a good or bad choice. They will have to face the consequences of that.”
Fine and Bariault are also waiting to see whether criminal charges, possibly for vehicular assault and hit-and-run, will be filed against Coleman.
The King County Prosecutor’s Office is expected to make a decision in the next few weeks.
Bellevue police said there wasn’t enough evidence to pursue a charge of driving under the influence