08:09 AM Mountain Standard Time on Friday, March 18, 2005

By 3TV and azfamily.com staff

Friends and family gathered for support as a hit-and-run victim fights for survival.

Nick Ruppert, 21, was critically injured last week by a hit-and-run driver as he walked back to his job at the Kerr Cultural Center.

Last night, friends and family gathered there, praying for him at a candlelight vigil.

“And we just feel like if we get all together and we come here today, that it'll make a difference,” said Nick’s mother Elaine Ruppert. “And we also hope that whoever did this will come forward and if they don't come forward, hopefully someone that knows something will come forward.”

Ruppert is still in a coma.

Meanwhile, police are searching for leads.

Anyone with information is asked to call Scottsdale police.