Ailing Queens man, 47, killed in tragic hit-run

A QUEENS MAN who survived a series of debilitating strokes and seizures in recent years died Friday after a hitand-run driver mowed him down around the corner from his home.

Thomas Kelly, 47, was found lying in the left turn lane of Woodhaven Blvd. near Metropolitan Ave., just around the corner from his Rego Park home, with severe head and body trauma around 10:50 p.m. Thursday, cops said.

Medics rushed him to Jamaica Hospital, where he died hours later.

Police were continuing to search for the heartless driver Friday.

Kelly’s live-in caregiver Moira Lopes said Kelly suffered his first big stroke seven years ago and took medication to control seizures.

She returned home around 6:30 p.m. Thursday and found a note on the refrigerator saying he had taken his meds and gone out with a friend. She went to bed thinking he was safe.

“I (figured) he would be fine with a friend because he’s handicapped,” Lopes, 43, said. “He cannot be by himself.”

Police woke Lopes up shortly before midnight with a knock on the door. She quickly dressed and followed them to Jamaica Hospital.

“He passed away around 1 a.m. The doctors weren’t able to resuscitate him,” she said. With tears in her eyes, Lopes described Kelly as a beloved fixture on their block.

“Everybody would take care of him, knowing that he was slow at walking, and be patient with him,” Lopes said.

“He was a great friend. He would warm to anybody. I just cannot believe that he was struck by a car that left him there to die so close to home,” she added. “He was a wonderful person.”

Neighbor Jessica Alvarez, 29, said Kelly, who worked as a plumber when he was in better health, kept his sunny disposition despite the loss of his mother, his medical woes and the transfer of his seriously ill father and disabled younger sister to care facilities. “He was a great person. True Jets fan. Always talked about sports. He would sit outside and talk to my husband about sports, about the Rangers. He would sit outside in his little blue chair and basically talk to everybody that walked by,” Alvarez said. “He was a very friendly guy.”

Lopes said she was trying to find it in her heart to forgive the motorist who hit Kelly because she assumes the crash wasn’t intentional.

“It’s very hard to lose somebody that I care for so much,” she said.

“I moved in to help him. His sickness, all the medications, all the strokes and seizures he has daily — and then to be struck by a car. It’s very hard to accept. If (the driver) is out there . . . we need to know what happened.”