A 17-year-old boy has woken after spending six weeks in a deep coma following an electric bike crash involving two cars in Wilton Manors, Florida.
Anthony McBride Jr was riding through the junction of NW 29th Street and North Andrews Avenue in early August when he was struck. He was taken to Broward Health Medical Center, where an MRI revealed a stage three diffuse axonal brain injury.
Doctors warned his family that, because of the severity of the injury, the chances of him regaining consciousness were low, although not impossible. His father, Anthony McBride Sr, said the weeks had been “a nightmare” and that he had spent almost every day at the hospital.
The circumstances of the collision remain unclear. Wilton Manors Police Department said all the drivers involved had been identified and had co-operated with officers.
Teenager responds after six weeks in coma
At the end of August, the family announced that Anthony Jr had regained consciousness. A video showed him raising a hand and waving towards the camera after weeks of being unresponsive.
“I can’t even put into words what it feels like to see this. Something as simple as a wave may not seem like much to most people, but to us, it is absolutely HUGE,” his father wrote in a Facebook post.
Anthony Jr is now in a stable condition but remains in what doctors have described as a “disorder of consciousness”. He has opened his eyes, moved his eyebrows and responded to touch and sound, while gradually developing more motor strength.
His father said: “I want people to know that he is responsive. He is showing us that he is aware, he is reacting, and he continues to give us little signs that he is still in there and still fighting…every response, every movement, every look, and every little bit of progress means absolutely everything.”
Photographs shared by the family show that the teenager is missing some teeth as a result of the crash.
The family has established a fundraising appeal to help meet the cost of rehabilitation, outpatient therapy and other expenses not covered by insurance. Anthony Sr took unpaid leave to care for his son and has since returned to work part-time.
The appeal has raised 15,000 US dollars towards a 750,000-dollar target.
“I want my son to know that I am right here beside him, and I am not going anywhere,” Anthony Sr wrote. “I don’t care how long this road is. I don’t care how hard it gets. If this takes months, years, or however long it takes, he will never have to go through this alone.”
