SOUTH BEND -- Family and friends of an injured bicyclist are praying for a full recovery. Pat Sawyer of South Bend was hit by a car early Wednesday morning while riding his bike on Cleveland Road. The driver turned himself in a day later.

WSBT spoke with Pat's wife Nancy on Saturday. She's trying her best to keep hope alive. But in the midst of all this, she also wants to spread a very important message — one she hopes will help keep bicyclists out of harms way in the future.

Pat Sawyer has two passions in life: family and fitness.

"Pat is extremely, extremely active which makes it so hard seeing him laying there so still," said Nancy Sawyer.

Early Wednesday morning Pat was hit by a car while riding his bike on Cleveland Road. He suffered a massive brain injury and is now in a medically induced coma.

"I want to hug him. I want to talk to him especially," Nancy said.

Nancy hopes the accident will shed light on a much larger issue — safety.

"Now this is my chance to be a part of it," said Nancy.

Thanks to high gas prices, more and more people are trading in their cars for bikes. And police say keeping bicyclists safe means drivers should always be aware of their surroundings.

"Just because they're not as big as a car and no matter if it's a bicycle, a moped, or even a motorcycle if you're driving a car you're enclosed and you might not see them or hear them," said South Bend Police Cpl. Jason Biggs.

Police also encourage people on bikes to be cautious. They say just like drivers, bicyclists must follow all traffic laws.

"Stopping at all the stop signs. Yielding to any pedestrians that are on the roadway. Also if you're on a bike you need to stay on the furthest right side of the road and follow the flow of the traffic," said Biggs.

Nancy Sawyer is relying on family and friends to get through this difficult time. But she says getting the word out about safety helps give her some relief because that's exactly what Pat would want.

"We have to start discussing this. What could we do? I don't want another story like this in the news,” she said.

Pat remains in critical condition. Doctors hope by keeping Pat in a medically induced coma, the swelling around his brain will go down.

Pat was wearing a helmet and other reflective gear the morning he was hit by a car. And police strongly encourage other bicyclists to do the same.