LEWISTON — A woman hit and dragged by a car on Pleasant Street earlier in the month is improving as she continues being treated at a Portland hospital for multiple injuries.

The family of 82-year-old Marie Van Nostrand said she woke up at the hospital last week and has since been moved out of intensive care at Maine Medical Center.

“She’s a fighter and she’s working real hard on her recovery,” said daughter-in-law Mary Van Nostrand. “It’s going to be a long haul, but she’s making improvements. She knows who we all are and she’s said a few words. We’re all thrilled. We’re all so grateful.”

Nostrand was struck Feb. 5 while walking on Pleasant Street, police said. The car that hit her was driven by 54-year-old Pamela Price-Wharff, who was pulling out of Jeffrey Street at the time.

Nostrand was hit and dragged for a block to York Avenue, police said, resulting in multiple injuries. When she was first taken to the hospital in Portland, she was not expected to survive the ordeal. The family was advised to make their goodbyes.

But at the same time, Cliff Van Nostrand, Marie’s son, described his mother as one of the toughest people he’s ever known. If anyone was going to pull through an accident like this, he said, it was her.

“She’s very determined,” he said, “very independent. A fighter.”

Cliff and Mary Van Nostrand flew to Maine from California after they were notified that Marie was in bad shape. Other family members also came to Lewiston to wait at Van Nostrand’s bedside.

The 82-year-old had been living at the Super 8 hotel at the corner of Pleasant and Lisbon streets, where some workers regarded her as a mother figure. She was struck while making her regular walk to Shaw’s more than a mile away, friends said.

Cliff Van Nostrand said his mother regularly walks four miles a day. She rarely has medical problems, never needed medication and was in excellent health before the crash, he said.

Since the accident, Marie Van Nostrand has survived more than a half-dozen surgeries at the Portland hospital, her family said. When she woke up at the hospital last week, they said, family and medical staff alike cheered aloud.

Price-Wharff has not been charged in the accident. Police reconstructed the crash scene as part of their investigation, which also includes footage from home surveillance cameras in the area.

Investigators have forwarded their findings to the Androscoggin County District Attorney’s Office, which is standard in wrecks with life-threatening injuries.

Since the incident, several people have written to the Sun Journal to ask for updates on Van Nostrand’s condition. That fact seemed to give the 82-year-old a boost as her recovery continued Tuesday.

“We told her that the whole community is pulling for her,” Mary Van Nostrand said, “and she smiled.”