Grandfather survives hit-and-run while mowing lawn in West Chicago

WEST CHICAGO, Ill. (WLS) -- A man mowing his lawn was run down by a minivan in a terrifying hit-and-run in the western suburbs. Amazingly, he's alive to talk about the whole ordeal.

Guadalupe Ballinas was helping his son mow the lawn in West Chicago on Friday when a minivan veered off the road, knocked him down, and then sped off. He says he never saw it coming.

Ballinas, a grandfather, is banged up and bruised after he was completely broadsided from behind. His shoes flew off and his body was thrown several feet into a ditch.

"We were pretty shocked when we saw it," said Lettecia Salinas.

The next door neighbor captured the whole thing on a surveillance camera. She said it's amazing Ballinas wasn't killed.

"He was out for three minutes. He just got up and walked inside," Salinas said. "And then he finished mowing his lawn."

Ballinas said a Good Samaritan stopped to help him and had a picture of that minivan's license plate.

He said he hopes the Good Samaritan contacts him again so they can track down that driver.