Justice for Ted Takacs

Although it won't dull the pain of her loss, Liz Takacs just got a momentary reprieve from the hell she's been living in since August 22.

The state Medical Examiner's office called Dec. 11 to say they will be doing an autopsy on her husband, Ted Takacs, after all.

"I need some justice for Ted. He wasn't supposed to die this way," said Liz Takacs of her husband, Ted Takacs, who suffered multiple injuries in an August hit-and-run accident.

"Ted suffered the entire time. I would like to say he's in a better place, but he's actually in a drawer in the morgue," she said. "That's not justice."

An initial request for an autopsy was denied by the State Medical Examiner's office, said Liz Takacs. She believes it had to do with the fact that her husband was 78.

"My wish was for an autopsy. If they find all the injuries he sustained, the charges will be elevated to vehicular homicide. If not, the kid who hit him might lose his license for nine months," she said. "How can anyone tell me that my husband isn't dead because of that accident?"

After 100 days of rehabilitative care her husband's Medicare benefits ran out, which meant she would need to make other arrangements for him. Without insurance, Liz Takacs was not going to be able to swing the cost of in-patient care. She knew it would mean getting creative – having friends and family come by for rotating shifts, and making the house accessible.

"We took off all the doors and ripped out the carpeting, and put grab bars around the house. I installed tile in the back room, and redid the bathroom myself, " said Liz Takacs.

They brought him home on Nov. 22, and he spent two "perfect days." On Nov. 24 he collapsed, and was admitted to the hospital where he remained on a ventilator until his son could fly in to be by his father's side.

"Everyone says a person can't hear when they're in a coma, but when people would visit and tell Ted not to worry, and that they'd help take care of me, a tear would roll down the side of his face. He heard everything," she said.

The Nashua Telegraph reports that one of the two men charged in the hit-and-run, Michael Fawcett, 51, of Nashua, is free on bail while getting mental health care. Fawcett and another man, Benjamin Tucker, struck Takacs on the Everett Turnpike Exit 5 on-ramp, and, without stopping, continued into downtown Nashua where they committed an armed robbery.

Tucker, who was behind the wheel, was recently indicted by a grand jury on two felony counts of conduct after an accident and reckless conduct.

Takacs body was to be transported to Concord right away. The Medical Examiner's office said it did not know when the autopsy would be scheduled.