Mother keeps bedside vigil for man critically injured in boat crash

TAMPA, Fla. (FOX 13) - A Tampa man is fighting for his life after a terrible crash on the water. Over the weekend, Lex Sammons' water scooter collided with a boat on the Hillsborough River, leaving him with critical injuries throughout his entire body.

Kimberlee Sammons spent the last few days at her son's bedside, talking to him as he lay in a medically-induced coma. "I want to believe he can hear us," Sammons said. 

She's there encouraging him to keep fighting. 

"I need everyone to pray for him to make a full recovery," Sammons said, as her voice broke, "because that's really what he needs right now, a lot of prayer."

Sunday evening, 30-year-old Lex Sammons was riding a personal watercraft on the Hillsborough River. In a split-second, everything changed. Surveillance video from a nearby home shows him making a U-turn and navigating right into the path of an oncoming boat.

"When the boat hit him, he was automatically knocked out," Sammons said.

The video shows the boater turn the vessel around, jump in, and pull him from the water. Lex was rushed into surgery.

"When they got in there his skull was shattered," Sammons said.

Doctors had to remove of a piece of his skull to relieve the swelling. He has a broken pelvis, fractures in his face, cuts on his leg, and bruises all over his body.

"Just a real good guy, really doesn't deserve this," Sammons said. " It's just an unfortunate thing."

Lex's family and friends are rallying around him -- a father who adores his young daughter, and man passionate about motocross and trimming trees. They're confident that if anyone can make it through, it's him.

"He's been here two more days," Sammons said. "So, I'm looking at the longer he's here, he's going to be OK. I really have faith he's going to pull through this."

Sammons' family is raising money online and planning some community events to help pay for his hospital bills since he does not have medical insurance.

FWC continues to investigate what happened out on the river. At this point, no charges have been filed.