Family Wants Answers After Father Falls Off Bridge

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ROCKWALL, TX (CBSDFW.COM)- A North Texas family is looking for answers following a serious incident during at the height of Wednesday's sleet and snowstorm.

A man fell off a bridge while trying to help another driver who had just hit his truck.

The incident happened on the I-30 Bridge in Rockwall, which was covered with a sheet of ice.

58-year-old Terry Caveat's pick up truck was hit by another car swerving across the bridge that goes over John King Boulevard.

Family member say Cavett first called 911 and then got out of his pickup to see if the motorist was okay.

"So he went over the concrete barrier just to get out of the way and he slipped on the ice and he fell 20 feet to the ground below," explains Daughter-in-law Jennifer Cavett.

Another vehicle was sliding straight toward Cavett, so he jumped onto the edge of the bridge, tried to hold on but slipped and fell about 20 feet.

Neither vehicle stayed at the scene nor called 911. Cavett's family members say they want to know who's responsible for the hit-and-run.

"Part of me is angry but a part of me wants to tell them he's my dad, he has a family, says Cavett's daughter Victoria Hunt. "He has a 12-year-old little girl. And if this ever happens to you again will you please come forward and not run."

Cavett's family wants the other motorist involved to know just how badly

"We just want them to know my dad has suffered five broken vertebrae, he has bleeding on his brain, he had a tear on his aorta. They had to do surgery and put a stent in."

Terry Cavett just got out of the ICU at Baylor Hospital in Dallas. He has five broken vertebrae, a broken wrist, a torn aorta and a brain injury.

He is expected to survive but his daughter says it's going to be a long road to recovery.

"We have a lot of recovery time. And that's what hurts me because he's always going," explains Victoria.

Police ask that anyone with information about this incident please come forward.

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