Deaf Apple Valley woman critical after hit-and-run

Joan LeVasseur couldn't hear the car that hit her Friday night.

Joan was born deaf.

On Saturday, her family gathered at HCMC where the 25-year-old Apple Valley woman is in a deep coma.

"I just want my baby to wake up," said Patty Boever, Joan's mother.

Joan's family said she was trying to lose weight, so she walked the three miles from her home to Cub Foods, to get food for her beloved cats.

"She'd take in any stray," said her sister-in-law Lori LeVasseur.

Joan's family said she left the store then went back for some reason, going east across Cedar Avenue at 153rd Street. Police say just after 9 pm a vehicle going north hit Joan and left the scene.

Police are looking for a large, light-colored vehicle. They are trying to determine who had the right of way.

Joan's family said because she is deaf, she was extra careful crossing the street.

They are praying for Joan to wake up.

"They're saying it's a waiting game when it comes to brain injuries," LeVasseur said.

And her family is waiting for anyone who saw the hit and run to speak out.

"There are a lot of broken hearts asking for someone to come forward and tell us what they know," said Joan's stepfather, Robert Boever.

By Julianna Olsen, KARE 11 News

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