A hit and run driver struck a pedestrian in Berrien Springs and the accident was captured by surveillance cameras.

Friends say 69-year old Sheryl Vance is in a coma with a severe head injury and a broken leg.

Vance was crossing Ferry Street at North Main Street in downtown Berrien Springs at about 7:30 Tuesday morning, as she made her way to work at Adventist Frontier Missions.

“She would actually be the first person to pray for the person that hit her as well as the first to forgive,” said John Kent, a co-worker at Adventist Frontier Missions.

Kent says that Vance and her husband were also part of a ministry that reached out to prisoners at the Westville Correctional Facility.

“We’re really hoping that whoever did do it will come forward shortly or the police would be able to find them recognizing that for us, and I think for Sheryl, it’s more about clarity and understanding and resolution than vengeance,” Kent said.

The Berrien Springs Oronoko Township Police Department today released a copy of the surveillance video to NewsCenter 16 in hopes that the public can help crack the case.

“We got a description of the vehicle as being a white passenger, four door sedan type vehicle,” said Detective Patrick Teed. “We’re thinking the damage would be the front end, toward the front passenger side.”

Police ask anyone with information about the accident to call 269-471-2813.

Investigators believe there’s very little chance that the driver of the car could have been unaware of what happened, and Roger Kesterke agrees.

Kesterke was shoveling snow early Tuesday morning and heard the accident before he saw it. “I was about a half block away from where the occurrence took place and it was just a thud, not an impact like you would hear two vehicles collide, but just a thud.”

Friends say that Sheryl Vance is hospitalized in critical but stable condition.

Today, the offices at Adventist Frontier Missions just weren’t the same without her.

“Everyday just before lunch we have an optional time of prayer,” said John Kent.

“She (Vance) goes through the office ringing a little bell you know calling everybody to prayer,” Kent added.