17-year-old David Silva was a typical teenage boy. He had a girlfriend, loved life and was an aspiring professional BMX bike rider.
"He does a lot of tricks with bikes, amazing things with bikes, it's just amazing what this child does with bikes," said Dorothy Robbins, victim's mother.
That all changed on the night of Tuesday, April 3rd.
"He wasn't answering his phone so I got a little paranoid 'Why isn't he answering?' I'd leave a message and he usually calls me back and he didn't, then the cops knocked on my door," said Robbins.
At about 10:15 p.m. David was riding his bike on Tyson Avenue in the area of Ditman Street in the city's Tacony section.
That's when police say David was hit from behind by a car. He was critically injured and rushed to the hospital.
"They just said that he had brain injuries. They were doing a lot of operations and draining fluid from his brain, they weren't sure if he was going to make it," said Robbins.
David survived but suffered a traumatic brain injury and was released from the hospital in August.
David is beginning to communicate with his family and is relearning how to stand.
"He's shocking the doctors. He's a very, very strong child, very strong," said Robbins.
Now that David is on the road to recovery, his mother's focus has shifted to finding the driver of that car.
"I'm not going to stop until they are behind bars, rest assured I will never stop until this person is behind bars," said Robbins.
The Citizens Crime Commission is administering a $1,000 reward, posted by AAA Mid-Atlantic, for anyone with information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible.
Anyone with information is asked to contact 215-546-TIPS. All calls will remain anonymous.
