Motorcycle crash grounds Parkour instructor

EAST COUNTY — Josh Hill prefers life in the air.

The daredevil and fitness guru flips and jumps around obstacles as part of Parkour — a discipline that uses movements developed from military obstacle courses to get from one point to the next in the fastest way possible. It can involve running, jumping, climbing and swinging.

Hill opened Sarasota Parkour Facility in East County one year ago to teach the discipline to area youths.

But in March, a motorcycle crash grounded the 27-year-old instructor.

Now, his students and their families are helping to support him on what could be a long road to recovery. Tracy Gongas, Rabbi Elaine Glickman and other parents have organized the Jumpin for Josh fundraiser April 29. 

Hill, who does not have health insurance, estimates his medical expenses total “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”

For now, the gym is surviving while a friend leads classes and offers private lessons.

The crash occurred around 7 a.m. March 11, when Hill was traveling east on Fruitville Road toward Interstate 75. He was en route to Tampa to take a test for a security license to obtain a night job.

A woman was headed west on Beneva Road, while Hill was in the far left lane. The woman slowed for a yellow light, so Hill proceeded through the intersection, but the driver continued through the light and collided with Hill, sending him more than 150 feet across hot asphalt.

 “My legs and arms felt like someone snapped them in two, and I was awake,” Hill said. “I could feel everything.”

He suffered a broken arm, a shattered left femur and broken right femur, and road rash on his knees and hands.

But the injuries to his left foot are the ones that could end or postpone his career and have kept him bedridden for more than a month.

When he hit the ground, the impact forced Hill’s shoe off and severely injured his heel.

Doctors initially thought they might have to amputate the foot to prevent a spreading infection, but now they’re working to save his foot through more surgeries over the next few weeks.

“I’m always at risk for injuries,” Hill said. “But this wasn’t cuts and bruises. These injuries affected me mentally and physically.”

At the time of the crash, Hill was in the best physical condition of his life; since then, he lost most of his muscle mass, and he knows it will take years to build back his strength.

But today, he focuses on each day and getting back to his fitness center and students, who are eagerly awaiting his return. 

“Even if you do something wrong 100 times, he won’t get mad,” said Gage Gongas, a Carlos E. Haile Middle and Parkour student. “I miss field trips with him. But he’ll be back.”

Hill will attend the event to visit with his friends and students.

“Josh is a kid at heart,” Gongas said. “I think that’s why he’s such a good teacher.”

“Josh is a kid at heart. I think that’s why he’s such a good teacher. We did this to help him in a way that we can.”

– Gage Gongas, Parkour student