Ybor City Crash Victim Recovers From 10 Spinal Fractures, Collapsed Lung at Tampa General Hospital

Everyone in the Tampa Bay area is following the tragic events that happened this past weekend in Ybor City. A car jumped the curb and plowed into her while she sat on a sidewalk in Ybor City. The vehicle struck at 12:46 a.m. where Seventh Avenue meets 15th Street, right in front of The Copper Shaker. Silas Sampson was behind the wheel. Riley Hancock broke 10 bones in her spine. She cracked six ribs, punctured one lung, tore her liver, and split her head open so wide that doctors needed more than 100 stitches and staples to close the wound.

Kimberly Maus got the call in the middle of the night. She and her husband were in Chicago when the phone rang. For two and a half hours, she dialed hospitals and police stations, desperate for answers. Was her daughter breathing?

"I finally spoke with a nurse in the ICU, and they were able to confirm that she was in the ICU and she was alive," Maus said, per Tampa Bay 28. "At that point, I was able to take a breath."

Riley's right ankle and shoulder took damage too. Her scapula snapped. Doctors strapped her into a brace that runs from her neck down to her torso — she'll wear it for at least six weeks while bones knit back together.

Two close friends were with Riley that night: Connor and Brandon Dietrich. They'd gathered with others at Bradley's on 7th, drinks in hand, sitting outside on the patio. Then the car came. Nobody remembers what happened next.

"I asked Riley if she was able to remember anything, and she said she remembers being inside, and then she remembers waking up in the hospital," Maus said.

Connor and Brandon had survived the shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland years before. Now this. Maus says Connor, her Godson, is still in the hospital.

Cameras at Bradley's caught everything. The vehicle slammed into about a dozen people seated outside. Bodies flew. One person rocketed upward, smashing into the ceiling that covers the outdoor area. Another crashed into the restaurant's outer wall.

Tampa Police got there within seconds. Officers watched Sampson climb out from the driver's seat. They smelled alcohol. His words came out thick and twisted. He wobbled when he stood. His eyes were red and wet.

Riley will work with therapists now — physical ones and occupational ones — as she starts the long road back. She has to learn to walk again. Her mother takes it one day at a time, holding onto each tiny win.

"Every day, we have small victories, and we're just thanking God that she's alive right now," Maus said. "She's been up PT and OT are wonderful."

Tampa General Hospital staff has helped the family, even though they're far from South Florida. Maus thinks about what could have been. She's already buried one daughter years ago. Not this time.