By Aidan Trevisan and Hannah Doherty

A recent Lafayette graduate was severely injured in a car accident on Sept. 19, while on his way to visit his girlfriend at Lafayette for family weekend, and has been recovering in intensive care since.

While driving along Highway 309, Michael Rockman ‘15 was directly hit on the passenger side of his car by another driver, who was going over the speed limit. Rockman suffered cranial bleeding as well as abdominal bleeding from the crash, according to History Professor Robert Weiner who visited him in the hospital.

“The air bags preserved his life,” said Weiner, a long time teacher and mentor to Rockman. “Very fortunately, his face was protected. He’s got some fractures and some severe pelvis issues right now.” He is now preparing to leave the ICU at Lehigh Valley Hospital and return to his hometown in North Carolina to begin rehabilitation.

“From my understanding he has made really great progress,” said Professor Ethan Berkove, who was close with Rockman during his time at Lafayette and also visited him in the hospital. “I think the doctors were very pleased with his improvements, but there is a lot of progress that still needs to happen.”

While at Lafayette, Rockman played on the club ice hockey team and sat on the Hillel Society board. Upon graduating this past spring, Rockman was accepted to medical school at Temple University in Philadelphia.

Rockman is on track to earn both an M.D and a Ph.D. at Temple, which according to Weiner, “is one of the toughest programs to get into upon graduation.” After completing rehab in four to five months, Rockman will still have a spot in the program next year.