JUPITER, Fla. — An Independence Middle School student is recovering at St. Mary's Medical Center after his family said he was involved in a crash while riding an electric bike.
Ryan Gural's family said the crash happened along Military Trail outside the Floresta Apartments in Jupiter on Good Friday.
The wreck happened while the 12-year-old boy and his friends were riding their bikes to get lunch.
"The woman coming out did stop at the stop sign and then came forward to make a right-hand turn, and she did not see Ryan because of the bushes and Ryan did not see her," Diana Gural, Ryan's mother said. "By the time they were able to see each other, she was stopped, but Ryan didn't see her and tried to swerve out of the way, but he was too close and his head took the brunt of the car."
She said Ryan suffered a fractured skull, broken jaw, brain bleeding and more.
"She actually called 911 and held Ryan's hand until police came," Diana said.
Since Sunday Ryan has had three surgeries, according to the boy's mother.
"What do you remember about the day of the crash?" WPTV reporter Joel Lopez asked Ryan.
"That we were going to get something to eat, that's it, then I woke up two days later," he said.
Ryan said he was wearing his helmet at the time of the crash.
"It's important because if I wasn't wearing it, I probably wouldn't be here," Ryan said. "I feel really lucky because it could have turned out otherwise."
It's a loss the family knows all too well as Diana's husband and Ryan's father died four years ago when he was hit and killed by a car while he was riding his bicycle.
"He did triathlons for years, so bicycles was just something that he did, and he was hit by a car on his bicycle but died on impact," Diana said. "We lost him in June of 2020, so it's me and my two boys."
Diana is hoping to take her family's hardship and use it to raise awareness on road safety.
"It's not just kids that need to pay attention but so do all of the drivers as well, share the road," Diana said. "Make sure the bushes are cut where you can see, the drivers can see, as well as pedestrians, bikes strollers, all of that."
Friends and family have set up a GoFundMe so that Diana, who is a teacher in Palm Beach County, can take time off work and help her son as he recovers.
Ryan is expected to be hospitalized for another week.
"What's the first thing you're going to do when you get out of the hospital?" Lopez asked.
"Eat something, Raising Canes it's called, it's like a restaurant," Ryan said.