Florida man sunbathing on beach left ‘screaming bloody murder’ after woman drives over him

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Florida man run over by vehicle while sunbathing

Colson Janey, a 33-year-old beachgoer from Ocala, remains in the intensive care unit after being run over by a vehicle Saturday morning in Ormond Beach. (WOFL-TV)

What began as a blissful afternoon in the Florida sun ended in agony when a Jeep Wrangler suddenly barreled over a man lying on the beach, police said.

The 33-year-old man from Ocala, Florida, was lying face-down on the sand in Ormond Beach, which is north of Daytona Beach, on Saturday, April 5, when he was hit by a Jeep, the Volusia Sheriff’s Office said in a statement on Facebook.

He sustained serious injuries, including a broken femur, fractures in his right forearm, third-degree burns and a cracked pelvis. He was transported to a hospital, where he was said to be in stable condition. 

The driver, identified as a 61-year-old woman, was attempting to back into a parking spot on the beach and accidentally crossed over travel lines.

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Colson Janey suffered serious injuries but said he is grateful to be alive. (WOFL-TV)

The victim, identified by FOX 35 Orlando as Colson Janey, told the local outlet that he was left “screaming bloody murder” after his afternoon reverie was interrupted.

“I just got a Jeep a couple weeks ago,” Janey told FOX 35 about why he visited the beach that morning. “And this was something I wanted to do.

“All of a sudden a tire was going over my head. I’m just laying face first, just crying and screaming.”

The man said his forearm was broken in two places, and he had to have a titanium rod put in his leg after the accident broke his femur. 

“It’s like I had two brains,” Janey told WESH 2. “One brain was just screaming and thinking about how much pain I was in. The other brain was kind of being more rational, thinking, ‘OK, what’s broken? What’s moving?’”

Janey told WESH when he looked over his body after he was hit, his arm was “flattened” and his leg was “mangled.”

The Volusia County Sheriff’s Department responded to Ormond Beach on Saturday after a vehicle ran over a man who was sunbathing. (WOFL-TV)

The driver of the Jeep remained on scene and cooperated fully with the investigation, the sheriff’s department said.

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Deputies cited her for careless driving, saying that there were no signs of impairment.

“I know it sounds crazy, but throughout this whole time, I was just thanking God that I still had feeling in my extremities,” Janey told FOX 35.

A Volusia County Beach Safety Ocean Rescue officer repositions some beach traffic safety signs on Wednesday, Oct. 2, 2024 at Andy Romano Beachfront Park in Ormond Beach in Florida. (David TuckerNews-Journal / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images)

The local outlet reported that this was not the first incident along the beach. Several people have been seriously injured in vehicle-related accidents on beaches in the region over the past year, including elderly beachgoers and teenagers. 

In one case, the outlet said, a Volusia County Beach Patrol sergeant hit two teens lying on Daytona Beach during Memorial Day weekend.

Janey told FOX 35 that the beach does not have clear markings for where drivers are permitted to go.

“There’s nothing that like, tells you, ‘OK this is as far as cars can go, towards the beach,'” he said. “There’s nothing.”

General view of New Smyrna Beach, Florida, during spring break on Saturday, March 16, 2024. (Larry Paci for Fox News Digital)

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The driver did not speak publicly, but her husband told FOX 35 the woman is “devastated” and agrees with Janey that better beach demarcation is needed.

Fox News Digital has reached out to the Volusia County Sheriff’s Office for comment.

Sarah Rumpf-Whitten is a U.S. Writer at Fox News Digital.

Sarah joined FOX in 2021, where she has assisted on coverage of breaking and major news events across the US and around the world, including the fallout following the “Defund the police” movement, the assassination attempts on President Donald Trump’s life and illegal immigration.

She has experience reporting on topics including crime, politics, business, lifestyle, world news and more. You can follow her on Twitter and LinkedIn.