A fundraiser for the San Francisco police officer sent to the hospital with serious injuries after a suspect hit him while fleeing police has raised at least $40,000 as of Sunday morning.
Elia Lewin-Tankel, 32, suffered serious head trauma Oct. 18 when a suspect struck him with a stolen vehicle during a police chase near Civic Center.
Lewin-Tankel, who was riding his bicycle in the chase, has since undergone surgery to remove part of his skull and manage the swelling of his brain, according to the GoFundMe campaign from Kathryn McEachern.
“Elia is making slow, but incremental progress,” McEachern wrote. “We are buoyed by the changes we see every day. It will be a long recovery, but he has a fighting spirit and we know he will persevere.”
SEE RELATED: SFPD officer seriously injured in hit-and-run collision
The fundraiser is for Lewin-Tankel’s wife, Shideh Etaat, a public school teacher at Mission High School whose paid-time off is running short, according to McEachern.
