Five months after celebrating 40th birthday, doctor suffers life-threatening injuries from hit and run

SMYRNA, Tenn. (WSMV) - The expression on Dr. Josh Taylor’s face said it all.

As he walked into the surprise birthday party last November, with family and friends waiting, he flashed his megawatt grin. The first hug he gave was to his three young children.

Five months later, his pelvis was shattered in six pieces, his left hand left broken, and his face fractured. Police said this happened after a Jeep struck him on 8th Avenue on Feb 23. Taylor was thrown into the air, where another car then struck him. The jeep kept on going.

“It was very critical for the first 24-48 hours,” said Dr. Willie Melvin, Taylor’s longtime friend.

“Were you worried that he was going to survive?” asked WSMV4 Investigates.

“Yes,” Melvin said.

Taylor is the latest high-profile hit-and-run victim in Nashville. A WSMV4 Investigates uncovered that less than half of all fatal hit and runs in Nashville, between 2019 till 2024, result in arrests.

“Are you at the angry phase, that this happened to him in the first place?” asked WSMV4 Investigates.

“Yes, I wanted to smash something at one point during this. But right now, my focus is taking care of him, getting him through this,” Melvin said.

Taylor is left-handed, so the injury to his left hand is troubling. Melvin said it hurts for his friend to sit or stand. “One of his concerns is whether he will be able to operate again, that’s an unknown,” Melvin said.

But Melvin also adds that once Taylor was able to talk, he asked about the welfare and status of all of his patients at StoneCrest Medical Center in Smyrna.

As an additional sign of hope, Melvin said his friend delivered a sign that inside, he was still the same old Josh Taylor.

“He’s got his funny part to him,” Melvin said. “He cusses like a sailor, that’s his personality. When I first told him that the orthopedic doctor had puzzle-pieced his pelvis together and he would be non-weight bearing and in a wheelchair for a while, he expressed his thoughts on that.”

“And maybe that’s when you knew he was in there,” WSMV4 Investigates said.

“That’s right,” Melvin said.

“That he was still the same guy,” WSMV4 Investigates said.

“That’s Josh,” Melvin said.

A GoFundMe account was set up for Dr. Taylor and his kids.

If there’s something you want us to know about this story or anything else, please email jeremy.finley@wsmv.com.