I Don't Blame Him': Paralyzed Biker on SUV Driver Who Ran Over Him During Viral Road Rage Incident

The motorcyclist paralyzed when an SUV ran over him during a road rage incident last fall says he doesn’t blame the man behind the wheel who fled the biker gang.

Image source: Today

"I don't blame him," Edwin Mieses, 32, said during an interview Wednesday on the “Today” show. “At the end of the day, I’m not him to know what was going through his mind."

Mieses suffered a severed spine, a torn aorta, and nine broken ribs after Alexian Lien, 33, drove his Range Rover over Mieses in an attempt to escape the bikers who had surrounded him, his wife, and 2-year-old daughter in the middle of the Henry Hudson Parkway in New York City last September.

Edwin Mieses after the incident. (Image source: Facebook)

TheBlaze reported extensively on the incident and the aftermath. A swarm of bikers had filled the lanes on the highway; biker Christopher Cruz, 28, pulled in front of Lien's SUV and slowed down, presumably as a way to keep Lien from accelerating while letting bikers move past. But Lien bumped Cruz’s motorcycle — which led to fellow bikers, including Mieses, to stop and surround Lien's SUV.

Mieses said he wasn’t going after Lien when he dismounted. “I wanted to check on Cruz. I saw him get hit out of the corner of my eye,” Mieses told "Today" while sitting in a wheelchair next to his wife, Dayana.

Image source: Today

“I just got off like any human would...I was telling guys to keep going. I didn’t want to ruin the ride.”

But the bikers reportedly started to slash the SUV's tires, CBS Boston reported. Lien, apparently fearing for his and his family's safety, drove through the pack to get away, running over Mieses.

Mieses said he was returning to his bike with his back to the SUV when Lien ran him over: “I didn’t want to open my eyes because I knew he had hurt me."

That wasn't the end, however. The bikers pursued Lien, eventually catching up to him on a Manhattan street, smashing his SUV's windows, pulling him from the vehicle, and beating him in front of his wife and child. And the whole thing was caught on a biker's helmet cam.

While 11 have been indicted in connection with the incident, according to the New York Daily News, neither Lien nor Mieses have been charged.

Doctors told Mieses it’s 99.9% likely he’ll never walk again. “I refuse to believe that,” Mieses said, noting his faith in Jesus Christ for helping him since the ordeal started.

“We always take everything for granted,” Mieses said during the program. “What would I give to be able to walk again, use a bathroom again on my own. ... That has allowed me to see things from a different angle.

Mieses' attorney, Gloria Allred, told "Today" the possibility of suing Lien or the city for the incident is not out of the question.

Image source: Today

Videos of the incident and aftermath: