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Hit-And-Run Driver Badly Injures Woman, 24, Outside LACMA

LOS ANGELES (CBS) —  A woman was leaving the Los Angeles County Museum of Art this weekend when she was struck by a hit-and-run driver and severely injured. Now, her friends have turned to Facebook to find the two men who were reportedly inside the car.

Friends say Marie Hardwick, 24, was struck by a black BMW as it sped through the intersection of Wilshire Boulevard and Spaulding Avenue shortly before 2 a.m. Sunday. The vehicle had no license plates.

LACMA Video Exhibit
(credit: Iris Schneider)

"The driver did not stop. If anyone was there or knows of anyone there who saw anything please, please contact the police (or share this post--sometimes things have a way of getting to the right person)," Alyssa Archambault wrote on Facebook. "She was very badly injured and will be in the hospital for many months."

Marie, an artist from East Los Angeles, had just finished watching a video art film at the museum, along with dozens of other people that had lined up outside for the event.

CBS2 reporter Suzie Suh spoke with the victim's father.

"The first thing you feel is numbness and pain," Ian Hardwick said.

Ian Hardwick
(credit: CBS)

Hardwick hasn't left the hospital for days: "It's so amazing to learn something from your own children. She's so brave."

After 11 hours of surgery Hardwick remains in the intensive care unit with a list of injuries, including broken legs.

"Both knee caps are broken, tendons are ripped off, a jaw was smashed in," Hardwick said of his daughter's injuries.

Her father has chosen not to be angry. Instead he's putting the energy into wishing his daughter well and finding the driver who didn't stop.

"You just pray and hope that she's gonna be alright," the father said, adding, "I feel sorry for the person who did it because if they got an ounce of human compassion they gotta take that around with them for the rest of their lives. I know it'd kill me inside."

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