Tate Student Hit By Car Last Friday Night Remains In Critical Condition

October 3, 2009

The Tate High School student struck by a car following a Tate High School football game a week ago remains in critical condition.

tyler10.jpgTyler  J. Spear, 15, of Cantonment was critically injured when he was hit by a 1997 Honda Accord of Molino at 9:05 p.m. on September 25.

Spear had reportedly left the Tate High football game and walked to Winn Dixie. He was attempting to cross Highway 29 to go return to the football game.  The stretch of highway he was crossing is dark and has no crosswalks. Spear, according to the Florida Highway Patrol, was wearing all-dark clothing.

“He left the game at Tate to go to Winn Dixie. He thought  he had enough time to cross the street but didn’t and that is when he got hit,” Tyler’s mother Vanessa Strother said. “He turned to the driver and looked her right in the eye. He hit the windshield and then landed face down in the road.”

The Tate sophomore remains hospitalized at Sacred Heart with a leg broken in two places, a broken nose and arm, facial injuries, a lacerated spleen and possible nerve damage. Family members said he was on a ventilator to help him breathe until Thursday night.  Now Vanessa and Davis Strother sit by Tyler’s bedside everyday hoping for a recovery for their son.

The driver of the car that hit Spear, Robbin Gerich, 42, of Molino, was not injured in the crash. Her passenger, Lawrence C. Gerich, 35, of Molino, was not injured, but was transported to the hospital by ambulance for another medical condition, according to the FHP.

Gerich is not facing charges in the crash; the FHP says Tyler failed to yield to the vehicle.

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Written by William Reynolds · Filed Under News