FEDERAL WAY, Wash. - Chris Niemeyer was left to die on the side of a road during the height of the mid-December storm. Now he's trying to piece together his life as investigators look for clues into the crash.

Niemeyer was hit by a car early in the morning on December 15th while he was walking home in the pouring rain and gusty wind. All alone and crumpled on the side of the road, he sent his fiance a text message with one word - 'help'. But hours passed before someone finally spotted him and came to his rescue.

His aunt, Celeste Bennett, said she got the call hours later from authorities.

"We just know that some very good person was walking and spotted something and went to investigate and found it was a person and called 911," she said.

Bennett went to the hospital to find her nephew badly injured and barely recognizable. Since the accident, Niemeyer finally began to communicate recently, opening his eyes and even attempting to talk.

But Bennett said the injuries themselves weren't as shocking as the fact that Niemeyer was abandoned on the side of the road.

"So many people were impacted by the storm and the weather. Of course, we're horrified that someone could hit someone and leave," she said.

Police said they got a call from someone the day after the accident who claimed to have hit something the night before.

"He says it was dark, he couldn't see. He knows he hit an object, but he wasn't sure what it was, and called the following day," said Stacy Flores, a spokeswoman for the Federal Way Police Department.

Police have impounded that driver's car and are awaiting test results.

Meantime, Niemeyer's family members said they're waiting for the day their loved one fully recovers and returns to being himself.

They hope that day comes before June 8th, the day his fiance is due to have their child.

Niemeyer's family said he is uninsured. The family has set up a fund through Washington Mutual bank to help pay for his medical bills.