KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — A Knoxville family is mourning the loss of their loved one who was hit and killed by a truck Sunday. It happened on Merchant Drive.
The woman, 62-year-old Patsy Ellison, was near her home headed back in her motorized wheelchair. Her family said she went everywhere in her wheelchair.
"It didn't stop her from going anywhere," said her great-niece, Destiny Ellison.
Living just off Merchant Drive for more than 40 years, she knew the routes well. Ellison said everyone in the neighborhood knew her since she would ride her wheelchair down the street.
But on Sunday when she left home, she wouldn't return. Ellison said she was crossing from a Weigel's to the other side of Merchants Drive when a truck hit her.
"We thought she was ok. She was ok before she left," said Ellison.
She said she died just after getting to the hospital. The family is now warning others to be aware of pedestrians near the road.
"She was a good woman and I love her to death," said Patsy's neighbor Timothy Dockery who is now helping care for her dog, Sparticus.
Ellison said Patsy had a heart for making people smile and during a time that was difficult for nearly everyone, and that's what the family is trying to do now
"She wouldn't want us to be sad, she wasn't that person," said Dockery.
The family said they haven't been able to speak to the driver of that truck, but they do plan to press charges.
"Completely come to a stop and make sure you don't just look right, that you look left too because that one time that you don't look left you can take someone who was very dear to everybody away," said Ellison.