A 10-year-old Florida boy is fighting for his life after being hit by two cars while riding his bike – with his heartbroken mother now clinging to hope as he remains in a coma.
Asher Thompson is in a drug-induced coma at St. Joseph’s Children’s Hospital in Tampa after riding his bike into traffic last Friday on State Road 52, where he was struck by one vehicle, which pushed him into the path of a second car, which also hit him, WFLA reported.
Asher’s devastated mom, Jackie Almeida, said she’s desperate for a miracle.
“All I can really do now is pray for a miracle, because the doctor said there’s nothing more that they can do,” she said, the outlet reported, noting that if Asher did wake up, doctors warned he would require full-time care and be unable to ever live on his own.
“I literally have had to walk out and, while the doctors are talking to me, I go into the bathroom and just yell at God like ‘help me like there’s nothing more they can do. I can’t lose him.’”
Almeida said she was at work when the crash unfolded and a witness contacted her before paramedics arrived. She added that the caller performed CPR on her unresponsive son, with first responders later reviving him, the outlet reported.
The heartbroken mom doesn’t know why her son rode into traffic but said the boy was with his brother when an incident occurred at a nearby gas station shortly before the crash.
“There was some incident, and I don’t know all the details, but Asher got scared and ran out and just jumped on his bike and just went,” Almeida said. “He wasn’t even thinking.”
Florida Highway Patrol said neither driver involved in the collision was charged, the outlet reported.
Almeida, who has remained by her little boy’s side, doesn’t blame those behind the wheel.
“They have to live with that for the rest of their life, and I feel awful for them,” she said.
“But it’s not their fault. It’s not. It’s not anybody’s fault. Sucks stuff like this happens, you just never think it will happen to you, you know?” Almeida added, stressing that she can’t live without her son.
“I keep reminding him he’s the strongest, bravest little boy I know and that he’s not fighting it alone. Like we’re all here. God’s got him and to not give up.”
