By Ann Rubin
St. Louis County (KSDK) - A runner is in intensive care after being hit by a car during a race.
It happened in Maryland Heights, and his family is questioning whether enough was done to ensure safety on the road.
The family has been at the hospital around the clock since Sunday, waiting and hoping for signs of improvement.
But they have a lot of questions about how this could have happened. His emergency contact information was attached to his shoe. That's how Chris Lister's parents found out.
He's in intensive care at Mercy Hospital with cracked vertebrae, a broken leg, and a serious brain injury.
An avid runner, he was participating in the Snowball Series 10k race when he was hit by a car. It happened along River Valley Drive in Maryland Heights.
"Basically as he turned, that's when the car met him and it was head on," said his father, Rick Lister.
But could this have been prevented? Lister's family wants to know whether appropriate measures were taken to ensure the runner's safety.
"They were saying roads are not blocked off which we already knew but they didn't say anything that they didn't have police," said his girlfriend, Stephanie Swanson.
Not in Chesterfield, not in Maryland Heights. And they think that might have made a difference.
The Missouri Running Company, which organized the event, did not request or receive permits from either town.
In Chesterfield, such a permit was optional and would not have been required. In Maryland Heights it would.
Maryland Heights says this is under review.
The Missouri Running Company declined to comment, and for now the Listers are focused on their son.
They know he has a tough road ahead.
"He's a fighter and he is not going to quit fighting," said his mother, Joan Lister.
They just hope others will listen and learn from this, that safety on the road is important.
The family says Lister has stabilized and doctors will begin to take him out of the drug induced coma tomorrow.
KSDK