Fresh off yet another surgery, jogger hurt in hit-and-run gratified justice was done

Matt and hiw wife, Nicole, during a summer vacation last year. (Courtesy photo)

ROCHESTER - The day after a guilty verdict was reached in the hit-and-run trial of a Rochester woman who struck and then ran over a jogger at the corner of Mcduffee and North Main streets, the jogger, Mat Lefebvre, was in surgery for an impact fracture on his right ankle, just another one of the procedures he has had to endure since he was severely injured on Oct. 21, 2021.
"It was one of the injuries that went unnoticed for a while," Lefebvre told The Rochester Voice today. "It was giving me quite a bit of pain. There was some osteoarthritis and swelling since not enough blood was flowing to my ankle. They also removed some bone spurs."
It was one of several surgeries he has had during his long rehabilitation and recovery.
The most intense was a 12-hour procedure on his spine in which doctors removed fragments of his C-6 vertebrae in his upper back, which shattered when the rear right tire of the SUV Joyce Howard was driving, rolled over his torso.
After the spinal surgery, Lefebvre said he began gaining mobility of his body, but it took a month of rehab to learn how to use his limbs again.
Still, he's extremely happy with the medical care he's been given and believes the surgery he had today may be his last.
He said he does feel some closure with the guilty verdicts, but it'll never be complete.
"My ribs are still painful if I lift something heavy," he said. "And my top two ribs didn't heal right, so I could puncture a long if I fall. I also still have nerve damage in my left arm and hand, they can get tingly."
Lefebvre's testimony on Day 1 of the trial was incredibly graphic as he described how Howard's car struck him and knocked him down.
Lefebvre testified last Wednesday that as he began to approach the corner of North Main and Mcduffee streets around 5:50 a.m., Oct. 11, 2021, he saw a dark SUV stopped just over the white line. He said he slowed his gait just slightly but saw that the car wasn't moving and thought it was waiting for him to cross in front, but as he got three quarters of the way past the vehicle it accelerated quickly as it turned left, struck him and knocked him to the ground.
"I hit the ground and landed on my right shoulder and my temple," he said under questioning from Strafford County Assistant Attorney Emily Conant Garod. "I thought to myself, 'Holy crap, I just got hit by a car.' It could've been much worse. I knew my shoulder was injured. I had been pushed into North Main Street. But now I'm partially in the path of cars. Then I hear the (SUV accelerate). I laid as flat as possible and yelled, 'You gotta be kidding me.'"
Lefebvre said as the car lurched forward over his body he felt such excruciating pain that it conjured images of his wife and three young boys as he feared the worse.
"It was like a wave, I could feel my bones popping and crunching," he said, his voice breaking. "I thought about my wife and kids ... I was under the car and knew the back wheel would be coming at some point. And it did. It went just above my butt and my head was being dragged across the pavement. I thought my head was going to rip off."
Lefebvre told The Voice today that that having to relive the incident was incredibly difficult.
"To go into that great detail on the actions of Joyce Howard was painful to relive," he said, "but the outcome was very much worth all that pain. I was happy with the jury's verdict, but not sure if I'll ever have full closure."
Lefebvre said he was incredibly thankful for the prosecutors in the case: Assistant County Attorneys Emily Conant Garod and Joachim Barth.
"I want to thank them for everything they did throughout and leading up to the trial that helped bring justice. I wouldn't have wanted anybody else to represent the state's case," he added.
Garod said the prosecution team was pleased with the jury's verdict.
"We are especially happy that Mat and his family received justice," Garod said in a statement.
Lefebvre also thanked the jury for their time and effort and wanted also to thank members of the community who have helped him and his family throughout the recovery process.
And while the healing continues, Lefebvre said he's looking ahead to brighter days.
"Once my ankle is healed I look forward very much to going out for a jog," he said.