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Cyclist hit, severely injured – neighbors want change to make the intersection safer

Dana Fells is recovering at Denver Health with multiple fractures all over her body after being hit by a car near West 41st Avenue and Irving Street.

DENVER — At the intersection of Irving Street and West 41st Avenue in northwest Denver, perspective matters. 

If a driver is headed north on Irving Street, the stop sign ahead is shrouded by branches from a tree, causing some motorists to miss it altogether. 

"This has been an ongoing, there you go," said Pauline Bargell, interrupting herself as yet another car braked quickly already over the crosswalk. "It keeps happening," 

In the hour 9NEWS was near the intersection, several cars drove through the stop sign on Irving Street. In every instance, there was no one else in the intersection. 

But Saturday morning was different.

"I feel horrible for everyone involved because the driver didn't see the stop sign either," said Whitney Kennedy, who saw the aftermath of the crash. 

Denver Police said a driver was headed north on Irving Street while Dana Fells was biking east on West 41st Avenue, which is a newly-designated bikeway. 

The driver didn't stop at the stop sign, and hit Fells. 

Neighbors said Fells and her bike ended up underneath the car. 

"It's not easy to see such a vibrant healthy woman break every limb in front of you," said Kennedy, a doctor who helped Fells before paramedics arrived. 

Fells was on her way to work at the Stretch Lab off of West 38th Avenue when one of her co-workers received a call from the driver who hit her. 

"She's in pretty serious condition," said Emily Kennel. "She has five leg fractures bilaterally and one in the femur, she has pelvic fractures." 

Credit: Emily Kennel
a photo of Dana Fells

Kennel said they took Fells into emergency surgery right away because she also had internal bleeding. She remains intubated at Denver Health. 

Stretch Lab is raising money for her recovery. Not only will Fells have medical bills to pay off, but she won't be able to work for several months. 

"I know me and everyone else here feels lucky that she's alive, but I'm sure she feels anything but lucky," said Kennel. 

Neighbors in Harkness Heights have trimmed the branches that obstruct the stop sign before, and they plan on doing that again. 

But even with that change, they said drivers still roll through the intersection. 

Kennedy and Bargell want signs installed ahead of the four-way stop telling people it's coming, and flags added to the stop signs themselves. 

"No winners, no losers in this game. Just something we need to fix," said Kennedy.

Denver Police cited the driver for careless driving resulting in injury and for driving without a valid license. 

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