UPDATE: Cyclist on fundraising trek killed in I-29  crash

June 17, 2022

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (AP) — Authorities say a Canadian bicyclist who was raising money for his granddaughter’s kidney transplant with a long-distance ride has died from injuries suffered when he was struck by a truck driver in South Dakota.

Jean-Pierre Petit, of Winnipeg, Manitoba, was hit from behind by the cargo truck Thursday while riding on the shoulder of Interstate 29, 17 miles north of Brookings.

Petit died Monday at a Sioux Falls hospital.

The 53-year-old was planning to cycle from Winnipeg to Hot Springs in the Black Hills of South Dakota, where there’s a fountain of natural spring water called the Kidney Springs.

The Highway Patrol is investigating whether to file charges against the 65-year-old truck driver, who is from Brandon.