The woman responsible for a hit-and-run accident that left a Brandon couple severely injured was sentenced to four years in prison on Thursday.

Cheryl Brown dabbed away tears as the judge handed down the sentence, which will be followed by a year of an intensive rehabilitation program.

The couple, Connie and David Lindsay, say their lives have forever changed since the accident last year. 

David, who works in the air conditioning business, can't make it back to work because the crash injured his leg so badly. Doctors say he may even have to have it amputated.

Connie can't work either because of her leg injury.

David says he replays the moments in his head often. 

"It's pretty gruesome when you get hit like that, and you look and your wife is laying in the road," David said. "The person who hit you is looking at you to verify whether you're dying or not, and when you ask help from that person, they just take off."

The incident has also impacted the couple's charity, Liberty Manor, which helps veterans in the Bay area. The Lindsays generally operate the home for veterans using their own money.

"We’ve been unemployed now for nine months," said Connie. "My veterans depend on the two of us to continue the initiative for homeless veterans."

The tables turned on Thursday, as some of the same veterans they help were supporting the couple in court. They all awaited Brown's sentence. 

Brown's attorney asked for no prison time, and suggested instead to place Brown in an alcohol treatment program. 

However, Brown has been charged with DUI twice before this case and already completed alcohol treatment.

The Lindsays hugged in the courtroom, as the group left and began cheering the sentence. But they say it's not about being vindicated.

"She has been in this situation before and she never learned anything,"  said Connie. "Now we’re just ensuring public safety. That’s the best that can be said about the victory today. We’re ensuring public safety."

The couple also asked the judge for $70,000 in lost wages after the accident. But the judge said because Brown has "never held a job in her life," she doubted they would get any money at all because she was also driving without insurance. 

Prosecutors said Brown had a number of prior driving infractions that began in 1990, when she was charged with her first DUI. Brown has also been charged four times with driving while her license was suspended, according to the state.