19-year-old college student in coma after being hit by illegal dirt bike

ALBANY, N.Y. (WRGB) - A 19-year-old college student from New York remains in the hospital fighting for her life a week after she was involved in a hit-and-run with a suspect on an illegal dirt bike. The suspect is still at large.

Alexa Kropf, a 19-year-old University at Albany student, was preparing to head home for summer break next week, but now, that’s not possible because she is in a coma following a hit-and-run.

“She was supposed to come home next week from her first year of college. She’s not coming home – not yet anyway,” said Alexa’s father, Jim Kropf.

Alexa Kropf, a 19-year-old University at Albany student, suffered extensive injuries to her... — Alexa Kropf, a 19-year-old University at Albany student, suffered extensive injuries to her head and body after police say she was hit by a man on an illegal dirt bike while walking down the street.(Source: Family handouts, WRGB via CNN)

The 19-year-old suffered extensive injuries to her head and body after police say she was hit by a man on an illegal dirt bike while walking down the street around midnight last Saturday. Her father says she is currently in critical but stable condition at the hospital and remains in a medically induced coma.

Alexa Kropf’s father and the rest of her family traveled from Long Island to be by her side as she fights for her life. She has undergone two brain surgeries and has more operations to come.

“It’s pretty much hour to hour, not even day to day. It’s very unnerving as a parent. It’s a phone call that no parent would ever want to receive,” Jim Kropf said.

He says his daughter’s road to recovery will be a long one.

Police say the suspect fled the scene after he hit Alexa Kropf, sending her flying into the air. A week after the incident, police are still working to find and arrest him.

“If he has any sense of decency as a human being, he will step forward and turn himself in,” Jim Kropf said.

The incident has led the Albany County Sheriff’s Office to crack down on illegal street bikes, seizing 10 of them, issuing 21 tickets and making two arrests just on Tuesday night.

Jim Kropf says the seizures are a start, but it’s not the bikes he wants law enforcement to crack down on; it’s the people riding them.

“Negligence, recklessness. It’s going to take somebody to – I don’t want to say the word – pass away for something to be done. When does it stop?” he said.

Police are encouraging the community to call them when they observe dirt bikes and ATVs operating in the city.