Anthony McBride Jr., a 17-year-old from Wilton Manors, is opening his eyes, moving his eyebrows and responding to touch and sound weeks after being struck by two vehicles while riding his electric bike near North Andrews Avenue and Northwest 29th Street in early August. He spent weeks in a deep coma before waking at the end of August, and doctors now describe him as stable but experiencing what they call a disorder of consciousness.
The crash left McBride with a stage 3 diffuse axonal injury, a traumatic and catastrophic injury identified through an MRI scan at Broward Health Medical Center, according to the Daily Mail. He also suffered a collapsed lung, multiple skull fractures and broken ribs, and underwent multiple surgeries in the days following the collision, NBC 6 South Florida reported. That outlet described the impact as one vehicle clipping McBride and slinging him into a second car, leaving him in intensive care days after the crash.
Photos shared by his family show he is missing some teeth, one of the visible marks of the trauma he endured, per the same report. Doctors initially gave him low but not impossible odds of waking up, and his family has said he is now gaining motor skill strength by the day, opening his eyes, moving his eyebrows, and even raising a hand to wave at a camera.
Cause of Crash Still Unclear as Drivers Cooperate
The exact cause of the accident has not been determined. All of the drivers involved have been identified and have cooperated with the Wilton Manors Police Department, the report notes, though investigators have not said what led to the collision in the first place.
McBride's father, Anthony McBride Sr., took unpaid leave from his job to be with his son and has since returned to work part-time. He described the crash as a nightmare and called the ordeal incredibly scary, according to the same account.
Family Turns to Fundraising for Long Recovery Ahead
The McBride family has launched a GoFundMe campaign to help cover medical expenses and other financial burdens tied to Anthony's care, with funds also earmarked for rehabilitation and outpatient therapy not covered by insurance. As of the family's most recent update, they had raised $15,000 toward a $750,000 goal. One organizer wrote that every donation, no matter the size, will go toward Anthony's medical care and recovery while helping ease the financial strain on his family, according to the fundraiser's page.
Part of a Wider Pattern in South Florida
McBride's crash is not an isolated case. Broward Health Medical Center has said at least three other minors were struck while riding electric bikes and scooters in South Florida since early August, per the Daily Mail's reporting. Just over a week ago, a 10-year-old girl was killed and her brother critically injured in a hit-and-run while the two rode an e-bike in Northwest Miami-Dade, according to CBS News Miami, which reported deputies were searching for a silver or gray 2009-2012 Nissan Versa in connection with that crash near Northwest 117th Street and Northwest 7th Avenue.
The numbers behind these individual tragedies point to a broader surge. Memorial Healthcare System in South Broward has seen a 178% increase in micromobility-device injuries from 2024 to 2025, a trend that has continued into this year, according to the Miami Herald. Nicklaus Children's Hospital recorded just six severe e-bike and e-scooter injuries in 2021, but that number climbed to 37 by 2025 — an increase of more than 500% — with 46 more micromobility-related injuries logged in just the first five months of this year.
The Coral Springs Police Department counted 49 e-bike, e-moto and e-scooter accidents between September and March 1, with about two-thirds involving children, according to WUFT. St. Petersburg police reported five fatal e-bike accidents within about three months during that same stretch. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has said the true scope of the problem is likely undercounted, since e-bike crashes are often logged simply as bicycle crashes.
Regulation Efforts Stall Even as Crashes Mount
Florida lawmakers pushed to pass legislation that would have regulated e-bikes, and the bill cleared the House with bipartisan support this year, per WUFT's reporting. Governor Ron DeSantis vetoed that e-bike regulation law in June. Fort Lauderdale is now working on its own local e-bike regulations, while other states have moved ahead on their own: New Jersey passed a law this year requiring licenses, registration and insurance for e-bike riders after a rise in deaths there.
For now, the McBride family is focused on Anthony's recovery day by day, watching for each new flicker of movement or response as a sign of progress. The road ahead remains long, with his condition still described by doctors as a disorder of consciousness even as he continues to respond to touch, sound and the people around him.
