Accident may take athlete out of action

Wharton senior Mark Pan's track career may now be over. Pan, a hurdler on the Penn men's track team, was treated and released from the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania Monday after being hit by a University van. He said last night he may never be able to compete again. Pan was riding his bike near Bennett Hall at about 1:30 p.m. Monday when a School of Arts and Sciences truck swerved onto the sidewalk and hit him. Medical Center spokesperson Seanna Walter said Pan did not fracture any bones in the collision. But Pan said the ligament damage he suffered in his right knee may forever limit his participation in athletics. "I went flipping through the air and I saw all of these stars, and all I was thinking was, 'there goes my track career,'" he said. Pan said he overheard the driver of the SAS vehicle say at the scene of the accident that he had to veer off the street because another car had cut in front of him in traffic. Although he described his knee as "a complete mangled mess," Pan, the third student struck by a vehicle this month, said he feels "lucky" in comparison to the other accident victims. "The first thing I thought when I was down was that I remembered reading about Jae Lee [in The Daily Pennsylvanian], and how first he was okay and then he was in critical condition," said Pan. "Now I'm just happy that nothing serious has happened?and I was able to get out of it without injuries like Jae Lee, that poor kid." Lee, a College freshman, underwent multiple operations for hematosis after being struck by a car at the same intersection this month. He was moved out of the intensive care ward at HUP after waking up from nearly a week-long coma. Since the accident, Pan said he has thought about the "real long term ramifications of the injury." He refused to comment, however, on whether he plans to sue the University because of the accident. "The first thing [people] say is, 'are you all right,'" he said. "The second is, 'I have two words for you: law suit.' But I think I'm lucky to be alive." Pan added that the University's Office of Risk Management has contacted him many times since yesterday's accident. The third accident this month involved College senior Thomas Heller, who injured his pelvis when he was hit by a taxicab at 39th and Sansom streets earlier this month.