Hilton Head teen ‘left to die in the middle of the road’ after Columbia hit-and-run
Laer Hohmann of Hilton Head stepped off a curb to cross Harden Street in Columbia’s Five Points around 1:50 a.m. Sunday.
That’s the last thing the 19-year-old remembers until he regained consciousness hooked up to a ventilator and surrounded by medical professionals — all strangers to him — on Monday morning at Prisma Health Richland Hospital.
“It was the scariest thing I’ve ever been through in my life,” he told his mother, Lauren Loadholt-Cirafesi.
The driver of a black Dodge Charger, model year 2011-14, with dark tinted windows, a rear spoiler and blue headlights, had hit Hohmann and driven away without stopping. The vehicle was seen on surveillance video.
“It was dark, and they left Laer to die in the middle of the road,” Loadholt-Cirafesi said, choking back a wave of emotion. “A second driver could have come along and run over him and actually killed him.”
Two young women found Hohmann in the street and stayed with him until paramedics arrived and took him to the hospital.
“When he woke up, he did not remember the incident,” Loadholt-Cirafesi said. “He didn’t know where he was and had no idea what happened. ... It was a big emotional trauma, not just a physical one.”
The physical trauma is extensive. Hohmann has already had one surgery to try to save his leg, and doctors placed a metal rod from his hip to his ankle. The bone around his left eye is fractured, along with his sternum and one of his vertebrae. He has bruised lungs and a concussion, with 10-15 stitches on his scalp. The swelling around his eye is so bad that doctors aren’t yet able to determine whether he’s lost some or all of his vision.
“He’s going to live. That’s the best part,” Loadhold-Cirafesi said. “We don’t know yet how much his quality of life will be affected.”
Hohmann, a 2020 Hilton Head Island High School graduate who had gone to Columbia to visit his older brother for the weekend, is hospitalized in serious but stable condition. He was taken off the ventilator on Tuesday.
Investigators with the Columbia Police Department are trying to identify the driver of the vehicle. A post on the agency’s Twitter account said the vehicle likely would have damage to the driver’s side headlight and front bumper area and undercarriage. They are asking anyone who saw what happened or who recognizes the vehicle to call 1-888-CRIME-SC.
Jennifer Timmons, spokesperson for the Columbia Police Department, said the agency has received tips from Crimestoppers and is following up on them.
Meanwhile, Loadhold-Cirafesi hopes that her son will be able to return to his job doing computer programming at The Seabrook of Hilton Head. One day, she hopes, he’ll be able to go to college in person. He’ll enjoy doing the things he enjoyed before the accident, like going to the beach, surfing and hanging out with his friends and his golden doodle, Zeus.
Loadhold-Cirafesi, a single mom, is trying to get her son moved to Memorial Health University Medical Center in Savannah so she can be closer to home, work and her four younger sons, ages 6-14. She is co-owner of Ombra Cucina Italiana restaurant on Hilton Head.
She said friends, neighbors and fellow business owners have rallied around the family, setting up a GoFundMe account, bringing food and helping to care for the younger boys, who haven’t been allowed to see their big brother since the accident because of COVID-19 regulations.
“I’m just so thankful,” Loadhold-Cirafesi said. “I can’t think of a better place to live than Hilton Head Island. The community is so strong. Anytime someone gets hurt, the community comes together like no other.”
