This is an archived article and the information in the article may be outdated. Please look at the time stamp on the story to see when it was last updated.

Please enable Javascript to watch this video

DENVER -- Amber Pennington lies in a hospital bed with severe road rash, broken ribs and nose, and a fractured pelvis.

“I would just want to know why,” the 25-year-old asked of the person who put her there.

Clutching the battered and broken helmet that saved their daughter's life, Travis and Heidi Knight said she's lucky.

“Really it's the parents' biggest nightmare,” said Travis Knight, Amber’s stepfather.

“If she didn't have the helmet on she probably wouldn't be here so thank God for the helmet,” said Heidi Knight, Amber’s mother.

Lucky seems like a strange term for someone like this.

“Its OK to worry, but don't worry too much,” Amber said.

Heavily sedated, speaking on camera to her parents, the pre-med student remains upbeat.

“Bad things happen to good people all the time,” she said.

The accident happened Friday around 2 a.m. as Amber drove her scooter home from work.

“Stopped at a red light and I felt the impact from the car hit my scooter,” she said of what she remembers of the hit-and-run.

Investigators with the Colorado State Patrol said Amber was hit from behind at 64th Avenue and Federal Boulevard. The suspect, in a dark blue sedan, fled the scene.

“I wish I could talk to them and just say, 'How can you do this to someone, how could you do this to anyone? Why would you leave them on the side of the road?'” Heidi Knight said.

Amber wants justice, but she also wants whoever left her on the side of the road for dead to know this won’t stop her.

“No matter what terrible mistakes you make, I'm not going to let this stop me from becoming a better me,” she said.

The Colorado State Patrol is in charge of the investigation. It is asking for any information from possible witnesses.

Amber is still in the hospital and will be out of work for some time. Her friends have set up a GoFundMe page. Amber said all she wants is to be able to graduate college and walk across the stage on time.

[protected-iframe id="bffe702dd80afadc2bffa87870826806-29290497-106858368" info="https://www.google.com/maps/embed?pb=!1m18!1m12!1m3!1d3064.7486763548877!2d-105.0252290549942!3d39.8126289446414!2m3!1f0!2f0!3f0!3m2!1i1024!2i768!4f13.1!3m3!1m2!1s0x876c780213897bd1%3A0x95e1f9749da4b51c!2sFederal+Blvd+%26+W+64th+Ave%2C+Denver%2C+CO+80221!5e0!3m2!1sen!2sus!4v1467588967724" width="100%" height="450" frameborder="0" style="border:0" allowfullscreen=""]