An avid Upper West Side jogger was run down from behind by an e-bike rider allegedly going the wrong way in Central Park \u2014 and is now in a medically induced coma, according to her family and a witness.<\/p>\n
The \u201cvibrant\u201d 43-year-old runner, identified by her first name, Jean, had to have a portion of her skull removed during emergency cranial surgery following the harrowing July 7 crash, her niece, Brandi Wiltse, told The Post on Thursday.<\/p>\n
\u201cNow, over a week from the incident, she is still not awake, still in a medically induced coma,\u201d Wiltse said.<\/p>\n
But the electric bike driver involved is not facing any consequences, according to the police and an outraged Wiltse \u2014 who said\u00a0the city can \u201cabsolutely\u201d do more to hold reckless cyclists accountable.<\/p>\n
43-year-old Jean is in a coma after being struck by an e-biker while jogging in Central Park. GoFundMe<\/p>\n
\u201cAfter this, the fact that there is no accountability, there\u2019s no registration requirement, there\u2019s no insurance \u2026 There should be laws in place,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Jean was was jogging on West Drive, near West 64th Street, at around 4:38 p.m. when she was hit by the e-bike rider, who was described by cops only as a 26-year-old man.<\/p>\n
Witness Hoon Chan Sim said the cyclist was allegedly driving fast in the wrong direction in the running lane \u2014 instead of using the lane designated for bikes \u2014 and hit Jean from behind as she ran, causing her to fall and land on her head.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe was going the wrong way on the running track,\u201d Sim said. \u201cI heard a really loud screeching noise. My guess is that he was going pretty fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
The cyclist \u2014 who appeared to be a \u201ccourier,\u201d based on his fast-looking bike \u2014 allegedly tried to leave but other pedestrians surrounded him to force him to stay and wait for first responders, Sim said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe saddest thing was that he didn\u2019t look at the victim. He was trying to get away from it but people gathered around him so he couldn\u2019t,\u201d Sim said.<\/p>\n
\u201cJesus, I mean, the woman was bleeding out of ears.\u201d<\/p>\n
Doctors are monitoring Jean\u2019s serious head injuries, and it is not yet clear how much she will recover, Jean\u2019s niece, Brandi Wiltse, told the West Side Rag. GoFundMe<\/p>\n
EMTs rushed Jean to NewYork-Presbyterian\/Weill Cornell Medical Center with head injuries in \u201cstable condition,\u201d police said.<\/p>\n
\u201cShe was moaning, and people were tending to her, like, saying, \u2018Are you okay?\u2019 and then she was just moaning all the time on the sidewalk. She was pretty much unconscious, non-responsive,\u201d Sim said.<\/p>\n
Wiltse told the West Side Rag<\/a>, which first reported on Jean\u2019s condition Wednesday, that her aunt was checked into the hospital as a \u201cJane Doe\u201d because she was unconscious.\u00a0<\/p>\n She had three blood transfusions and also suffered a broken elbow that required surgery and lacerations so deep she needed skin grafts, Wiltse told The Post.<\/p>\n Doctors were still monitoring her condition and her niece said the family expects she will face a long road to recovery. Wiltse said her parents would be traveling from Georgia to be with Jean and had packed for \u201can indefinite amount of time.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re just all trying to do whatever we can because we do not want her to be alone when she wakes up,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n The NYPD, in a statement, said the \u201c26-year-old male operator of the two-wheeled vehicle remained on scene\u201d \u2014 but wouldn\u2019t say whether he had been ticketed or even confirm whether there was an ongoing investigation Thursday.<\/p>\n But Wiltse said police told her they were no longer investigating her aunt\u2019s accident. She said cops should look into the witness claims that the e-bike rider was going the wrong-way. <\/p>\n \u201cIf he was traveling the way the laws intended, that\u2019s one thing. That\u2019s something the police should look into.\u201d<\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani in March issued an executive order ending criminal enforcement of certain low-level e-bike violations and limiting police to civil tickets.\u00a0<\/p>\n Driving the wrong way would have been a criminal offense for bikers prior to Mamdani\u2019s order \u2014 which is now facing a lawsuit<\/a> from a group of victims who argue the policy has effectively \u201clegalized\u201d dangerous e-bike riding and made New Yorkers less safe.<\/p>\n It comes during a spike in collisions involving e-bikes in New York City.<\/p>\n Mayor Zohran Mamdani issued an executive order ending criminal enforcement of certain low-level e-bike violations and limiting police to civil tickets.\u00a0 LightRocket via Getty Images<\/p>\n Citywide, there were 514 e-bike collisions so far this year, nine of which were fatal, public records show.<\/p>\n For the same time period in 2025, there were 384 collisions involving e-bikes, six of which were fatal.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wiltse described \u201cAunt Jean\u201d as a \u201cvibrant\u201d family member and a careful runner whose life has been suddenly upended by the crash.\u00a0<\/p>\n