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Injured Lake Shore Drive Divvy Cyclist Is a Medical Student From Florida

By Mauricio Peña | November 24, 2014 5:30am
 Travis Persaud, 25, was badly injured while riding a Divvy bike on Lake Shore Drive early Saturday morning.
Travis Persaud, 25, was badly injured while riding a Divvy bike on Lake Shore Drive early Saturday morning.
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Facebook/Travis Persaud/DNAinfo

LAKEVIEW — The Divvy cyclist hit by two cars and badly hurt while biking on Lake Shore Drive over the weekend is a medical student working in Chicago and may have been crossing the Drive to get to his apartment, his family said.

Travis Persaud, 25, is now in a medically induced coma at Advocate Illinois Masonic Medical Center in Lakeview, where friends and family gathered Sunday. His parents flew in from Florida after getting a call in the middle of the night.

The Florida native suffered a broken leg and a dislocated shoulder — but did not lose his foot, as one witness reported, his father Frank Persaud told DNAinfo.

"He's still in critical condition but he's doing very well," his father said. "He's recovering at a fast pace."

Mauricio Pena spoke with the victim's family Sunday:

Frank Persaud said his son is a third-year medical student at Ross University School of Medicine in the Caribbean. He is in Chicago to do rotations at Mount Sinai Hospital, and living in Lakeview.

"His prognosis is critical, but he is stable," his father said. "He has huge support. He's had 60 or 70 friends from medical school who have come by to visit since Saturday. And the hospital has been tremendous. They have been very supportive and the care has been excellent. It will be a long road to recovery but it's looking upward."

Authorities said Travis Persaud was believed to be under the influence when he was riding a Divvy bike on Lake Shore Drive about 2:50 a.m. Saturday. Witnesses said he was riding northbound when he swerved, colliding with an Uber driver near the Belmont Avenue exit.

He was thrown under the car, and then hit by another car that could not stop in time. Persaud was taken to Illinois Masonic in very critical condition.

Travis Persaud's family said they think he was on Lake Shore Drive trying to cross the road to get to his nearby apartment in Lakeview before the accident. They said Persaud is an avid cyclist.

His parents flew into Chicago from Tampa Bay, Florida, after receiving a call at 4:30 a.m. notifying them of the accident.

Persaud was working to become a family doctor, his father said. He was two months into his 10-month rotation at Mount Sinai Hospital.

Contributing: Mina Bloom and Alex Parker

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