HUNTINTON BEACH, Calif. (KABC) — A Huntington Beach teenager fought for his life after being hit by a car while riding his bike, and still has years of recovery ahead from the traumatic injury.

Jesse Hayes’ family was told there was “little to no chance of survival” and now his mother calls him a “miracle.”

In October 2024, the teenager was hit by a car while he was riding his bike to the library. He suffered a catastrophic brain injury and remained unresponsive for months.

“Your brain really can’t comprehend much or like… make sense of things,” he told Eyewitness News.

His best friend, Anthony Amaro, was with him at the time of the accident and said his immediate reaction was to get on top of Jesse to protect him and keep him still.

“I just didn’t move him. I didn’t let anyone touch him at all. That’s my brother, I would do anything to protect him,” Amaro said. “I’m glad he was wearing a helmet because it would be scary if he wasn’t.”

With no brain activity and few options for treatment in California, Jesse’s family had him flown to a rehab hospital in Houston, Texas. That’s where they say a miracle began.

“(I) felt so grateful we had that decision to make – that an acute care facility wasn’t our only option… It gave us a lot of hope,” said his mother, Kasey Hayes.

The recent graduate of Huntington Beach High School rode one of the floats in the Huntington Beach 4th of July parade on Friday. In front of his hometown community, he rode alongside Sugar the surfing dog as a symbol of his resilience and the village that helped him through.

“Never give up. Never give up hope and always keep your faith because whoever is going through this, they’re still human, they’re still a person and they still have love to give,” Jesse told Eyewitness News.