Hit-and-Run Victim Seeks Temporary Home

Friends and family of a Woodstock woman recovering from a nearly fatal hit-and-run accident are asking the public to help them find a handicap accessible apartment or small home.

According to the Bows for Bowman Facebook page, therapists at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta are suggesting family and friends of Emily Bowman temporarily relocate the woman into a small home so she can continue her recovery.

She's been at the facility since March 8. 

"According to Shepherd, some patients may not become rehab ready and, to save (her) rehab visits with insurance...they (will) work with us to prepare to take her home with home health and (will be) working with her at home until she is ready to go back to Shepherd for 'real' rehab," the family posted.

While they hope "God will give her the strength to emerge," they also wrote they "need to plan" in the event Bowman doesn't quickly recover enough to re-enter rehabilitation at the center. 

Preferably, the family would want a small home or an apartment in the Cherokee County area that's one-story.

Friends and family are asking for help as Bowman's current home is not "idea.l" The family would have to make some renovations since their house is two stories, with bedrooms and bathrooms upstairs and a half-bathroom on the downstairs level.

Bowman, a former Kennesaw State University student and Woodstock High School graduate, was hospitalized in critical condition at Athens Regional Medical Center between Feb. 16 and March 8. She was hit by a pick-up truck as she and a friend walked along Oak Street. 

They were walking on the grassy shoulder, investigators believe, when 22-year-old William Wilson Heaton steered his Mazda pickup off the road and then hit Bowman from behind as he returned the vehicle to the road. He left the area and abandoned the truck, police believe.

Heaton surrendered himself to the Clarke County Sheriff's Office and has been charged with hit-and-run, driving under the influence, serious injury by vehicle, failure to maintain lane, reckless driving, and open container, according to Athens Clarke County Police.

He was granted a $50,000 bond, and according to the Banner-Herald, he must relinquish his driver’s license, abstain from drinking alcohol, remain under house arrest from 9 p.m. until 7 a.m., find a place in Athens-Clarke or Oconee counties to live before he can be fitted with an ankle monitor. 

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