The family of a bus driver who suffered catastrophic injuries in a Port Coquitlam hit-and-run last year offered a tearful thank-you to police Thursday after learning impaired driving charges have been laid in the case.

Bruce Rickman was cycling home from work along the Mary Hill Bypass late at night on July 30 when a pickup truck plowed into him.

The driver fled the scene, leaving Rickman severely injured on the road.

Sixteen months later, at a press conference outside the Coquitlam RCMP detachment, Rickman’s wife revealed her husband remains in recovery.

“Bruce’s injuries have been severe, catastrophic, and life-changing,” Twyla Rickman told reporters.

“Our horror that someone would inflict this and leave the scene has plagued our family and affected our very being.”

She said her husband is in “intense recovery” at home, but declined to provide further details about the extent of his injuries.

Mounties launched a vigorous investigation after the accident, and a driver came forward about two weeks later, in August 2014.

The RCMP hasn’t revealed why it took so long for charges to be laid, but Cpl. Jamie Chung described the investigation as “very complex and challenging.”

Chung said three counts – impaired driving causing bodily harm, dangerous driving causing bodily harm, and failure to stop at the scene of an accident – were approved against 28-year-old Port Coquitlam resident Sean William McAllister on Sept. 30.

McAllister has no criminal history.

Twyla Rickman praised the RCMP, Victim Services, and the public for their part in helping the family’s search for justice after the crash.

“And to those witnesses who provided care and safety to Bruce when he was left for dead on the side of the road that night, thank you so much for you selfless actions,” she added.

She said the community, and her husband’s colleagues at Coast Mountain Bus Company, have also been a great help to their family.

“Many of us are familiar with the quote, ‘It takes a village to raise a child.’ Today we realize it takes a community to recover from such a devastating injury,” she said.

Rickman was wearing a helmet and reflectors at the time of the late-night crash, according to his family.

His wife said they used to tease him about looking “like a Christmas tree down the road.”

McAllister is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 9.