Man loses his arm in hit-and-run motorcycle crash in Glendale

GLENDALE, Ariz. - A man lost his arm in a hit-and-run motorcycle crash in Glendale, and now his family is asking all drivers to keep an eye out for motorcyclists on the road.

Life changed in an instant for Austin Burgin on the night of June 14.

"It's very hard when your son is asking you, ‘Mom is my arm gone?’ It's just a lot from someone that lives to workout, lives to ride his motorcycles. He raced motorcross growing up, so I mean this is just a lot," Kelly Keith, his mother, said.

Her 32-year-old son was involved in a hit-and-run motorcycle crash that would cause him to lose his left arm and cause a number of other injuries.

"He has a compound fracture with fractures in multiple places, fractured ribs, a torn diaphragm, his stomach and intestines are up into his left lung," she said.

Burgin was driving on Northern Avenue near 73rd Avenue in Glendale when he was hit by a driver. That driver ran from the scene.

"The good thing is his helmet did what it needed to do, and he doesn't have any brain trauma, thank God. He's not paralyzed, but the trauma I think from it is – I don't even know," she said.

That driver was eventually arrested.

Burgin had to undergo several surgeries to repair and save his left leg and fractured pelvis.

His mom has a reminder to all drivers.

"Please be alert. Please don't drink and drive. Please don't be on your phones … just please be alert. There are so many people on motorcycles," she said.

Burgin is awake and talking, but his road to recovery is just beginning.

His family set up a GoFundMe to help with medical expenses as he will need more surgery and long-term care.