‘It was heartbreaking:’ Jacksonville Beach father recounts son being hit by DUI driver

ATLANTIC BEACH, Fla. — Panic for Eric Wingerter overnight Sunday as he woke up by a call from Atlantic Beach police. Wingerter’s 19-year-old son, who he asked to not be named in the story, had been hit by a drunk driver, sent flying through the window of Rainbow Shades Sunglasses in the Shoppes of Northshore Plaza in Neptune Beach.

>>> STREAM ACTION NEWS JAX LIVE <<<

“When I got there and seeing all the blood all over his face and all over his body and all the stitches and the cast and everything, it was heartbreaking,” Wingerter recounted in an exclusive interview with Action News Jax on Friday. “But to hear his voice was phenomenal, knowing he was still alive.”

George Oliver the Third now faces a charge of driving under the influence resulting in bodily injury and driving on a suspended license.

[DOWNLOAD: Free Action News Jax app for alerts as news breaks]

Action News Jax dug through Oliver’s criminal history and found two other arrests for driving on a suspended license, as well as other charges.

Jacksonville ranks eighth in the country for deadly crashes involving a drunk driver.

While Wingerter’s son is expected to survive, he told Action News Jax it’ll be a long road to recovery ahead, both physically and mentally.

[SIGN UP: Action News Jax Daily Headlines Newsletter]

“Walking home from work, walking to his car from work, he’s gonna be scared just to walk across the street, you know, for the rest of his life,” Wingerter said.

Click here to download the free Action News Jax news and weather apps, click here to download the Action News Jax Now app for your smart TV and click here to stream Action News Jax live.