A young man is in hospital with horrific leg injuries after being crushed between two vehicles by a hit-and-run driver.
Jarvis James should be in France today getting ready to celebrate his uncle's wedding.
Instead, the 21-year-old is under sedation in Leicester Royal Infirmary awaiting surgery to set and pin a badly broken leg.
Jarvis has been loading up uncle and groom Lee James's van, in Roseneath Avenue, Rushey Mead, Leicester.
They were preparing to go to Bordeaux when the crash happened at about 12.15am on Tuesday.
A Mercedes E24 came up the street and crashed into a number of vehicles before hitting a car which then ploughed into Jarvis.
Another uncle of Jarvis's, Viv James, was nearby and saw the silver Mercedes E24 shortly before the incident.
"Jarvis was loading up Lee's van with his uncle and his sister with gear for the wedding reception before a night-time drive to catch the ferry to France," said Viv, 50, of Anstey Road, Leicester.
"I was dropping some stuff off in a friend's car and stopped at the traffic lights in Barkby Road when I saw this silver Mercedes come under the railway bridge in the opposite direction, through the junction and into Gleneagles Avenue.
"He was going at some speed. I saw him take a straight right into Roseneath and I heard a loud crash."
Viv realised something terrible had happened. He went to Roseneath Avenue and saw the silver Mercedes embedded in the back of his own car, also a Mercedes, which he had parked in the street, where a family member lives.
"My brother Lee shouted 'don't let him get away!' and I saw this guy running down the road so drove after him," said Viv. "He ran into Strathmore Avenue and through a jitty into Peebles Way. By the time I got out of the car to chase on foot he was gone."
It was not until he returned to the scene that he realised Jarvis had been hurt.
"This guy had crashed into a Ford Ka as he turned into the road, veering over to the other side and hitting first a van and then Astra before slamming into the back of my car, which was shunted into Jarvis, trapping him against my brother's van.
"When I got there, Jarvis was shouting and in a lot of pain. The bone in his leg was sticking out. I could hardly look."
Emergency services were quickly on the scene and Jarvis was taken to Leicester Royal Infirmary.
Roseneath resident Amisha Patel, whose husband's Astra was damaged in the incident, said: "We came out to see what was happening. This young boy was in a lot of pain. It was a terrible thing to happen."
Viv's Mercedes was written off in the crash. "I'm not worried about that, it's Jarvis I'm concerned about," he said. "He's absolutely gutted. He keeps on asking 'why did this happen to me?'.
"My brother said the driver reeked of alcohol.
"What gets me is, Jarvis had been so looking forward to the wedding and travelling to France for the first time.
"Instead, he's in hospital waiting to have an operation on his leg. He's such a great lad and doesn't deserve this.
"I hope they catch the person responsible and he's prosecuted."
Viv described the suspect to police as a "middle-aged man of Mediterranean appearance", who was wearing a black jacket and dark trousers.
A police spokesman said: "It appears the driver responsible had decamped from his vehicle and ran off. A search commenced but without success."
Anyone with information about the identity of the suspect is asked to call the police on the 101 number.
