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Henry Schmidt in his bed Monday at OHSU Hospital, recovering from serious injuries he suffered in aa hit-and-run bicycle accident last Friday in Southwest Portland.

(Brent Wojahn/The Oregonian)

Steering the final No. 56 bus out of downtown Portland early last Friday,

driver Nancy Cain didn't know what to think when her headlights reflected off a mangled bicycle in the middle of Southwest Barbur Boulevard.

That's when she noticed a man lying in the bike lane.

Cain, a TriMet driver for 18 months, stopped the bus and stepped off to

.

As bus passengers helped gather Schmidt's scattered belongings, including one of his shoes and his ID, the driver asked the 20-year-old

student what happened.

"He said he didn't know," Cain recalled Monday. "And I said, 'Don't move. I'm going to get you an ambulance.'"

Three days later, Schmidt is still trying to piece together how he became the victim of a hit-and-run driver.

Schmidt, who will turn 21 Saturday, is juggling his job at Pok Pok with his work on opening a new brewery, named Arbella Brewing, with friends. He is also a double major in math and physics at Lewis & Clark.

"It's never been easy for me to be still ever," he said -- even when he's sitting, he knits. "It's going to be interesting kind of relearning how my body works and learning how to not take all of my movements ... for granted."

On Monday, he noted his big success was standing up, with help, and then sitting in a chair.

But he said he's surprisingly not angry.

"Someone almost killed me and just left me for dead. I don't know how I'm not more mad," Schmidt said. "(But) I find it really difficult to wish anything bad on anyone... I hope they have at least some sort of understanding of what has happened and that they can grow from this experience."

He said he plans to keep biking -- although he may use transit more or look for alternate routes.

His mother, Kathi Sweet, said she hopes the crash might motivate people to "speak up and advocate for what needs to be done." Since coming from Los Angeles to be with her son, she has heard from several people who ride bikes for recreation or to commute about frightening encounters they've had, she said.

If people feel drunken drivers don't get penalized or if they believe drivers need to be more aware of their speed, they need to try to change that, she said. Same thing if they think police aren't responsive enough, she said.

"We can't do anything to change what happened to Henry," Sweet said. "But maybe we can prevent someone else's experience."

-- Helen Jung

-- Joseph Rose