Student, 21, fights for life

An Indiana college student who was visiting South Florida for spring break is fighting for his life after being hit by a vehicle whose driver drove away without helping him, Fort Lauderdale police said Wednesday.

Andrew Akers, 21, of Fishers, Ind. was taken to Broward Health Medical Center by Fort Lauderdale Fire Rescue paramedics after the hit-and-run crash that happened about 12:30 a.m. Monday in the 100 block of West Broward Boulevard.

Akers had called an Uber car and was crossing West Broward Boulevard at Northwest First Avenue when he was hit by a silver, four-door vehicle that police think may have held four people.

“The driver briefly exited the vehicle at the scene, appearing to assess the damage and then re-entered the vehicle before fleeing the area,” Detective Tracy Figone said.

Investigators don’t yet know the make and model of that car.

Akers, called “Drew,” arrived in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday to spend spring break here with some of his fraternity brothers, said his parents, who flew to South Florida Monday and are at his bedside.

Their son has been in a medicallyinduced coma since he entered the hospital, they said.

The couple has been overwhelmed at the generosity they’ve been shown from the communities in their lives: By those back at home in Indiana, from Drew’s fraternity brothers who set up a GoFundMe account, and from people in South Florida who have opened their homes to them. “And we can’t say enough about the doctors and nurses here,” Diane Akers said.

Bill Akers said he was grateful for those who called 911 and used their car to block the road and protect their son from being run over. “Hopefully, the police will find the person who did this and left our son to die on the side of the road,” he said.

Police ask anyone who may have information to call Investigators Andrea Johnson, 954-828-5825 or Russell Brown, at 954-828-5754.