LAKE COUNTY, Fla.,None — A 14-year-old is in critical condition Friday after being hit by a motorcyclist in Lake County, according to the Florida Highway Patrol.
FHP officials said the accident happened around 8 a.m. on County Road 56A. FHP said 14-year-old Brandon O'Brian was about to head to school when the accident occurred.
He crossed County Road 561 to talk with some friends. After a short conversation, FHP said O'Brian went back across the street.
He waited for a car to pass, then started to run across when he was struck by a motorcycle.
The rider was 53-year-old Ray Blakeney of Merritt Island.
A neighbor heard it happen.
"My niece and her boyfriend were out. Brandon came across the road there. He talked to her for a minute, and they were going to leave. He ran back across the road in front of the motorcycle. All I heard was a thud. It was bad," neighbor Mike Causey said.
O'Brian was airlifted to Arnold Palmer Hospital in Orlando and is in critical condition at last word.
Trooopers said Blakeney was also hospitalized in serious condition. He was not wearing a helmet.
There was a lot of motorcycle traffic on 561 Friday, with many going to Daytona Beach for Bike Week. FHP is still trying to figure out if Blakeney was headed that way.
O'Brian is a 6th-grader at Clermont Middle School. Classmates heard the news during the principal's morning announcements.
"He just said to keepBrandon in our prayers-- and keep his family and stuff," classmate Justin Ford said.
And students who know O'Brian said it left most everyone upset.
"Almost the whole school. Everybody knew him and loved that kid," classmate Sidney Montanez said.
O'Brian's family has been with him all day at Arnold Palmer in Orlando.
WFTV
