TAMPA, Fla. — Friends and family of a Ybor City bartender are raising money for his medical expenses after he was involved in a hit-and-run accident.

What You Need To Know

  • A man in Tampa is recovering after being hit by a car in an apparent hit and run incident

  • Robert Kirkland was skateboarding to his job on April 13th and was hit by a silver car, possibly a Kia Optima, according to Tampa Police

  • His friends started a crowdfunding effort online and have raised about $19,000 to cover medical expenses

Robert Kirkland, who also goes by Robby, was skateboarding to his job at Reservoir Bar in Ybor on April 13 but ended up in an ambulance, ultimately spending five days in the hospital.

If you were to talk with Kirkland about a month ago, or even today, he would say skateboarding saved his life.

“Skateboarding just got me out of some things I shouldn’t have been doing,” he said. “Like I say, skateboarding saves lives, and it definitely wavered mine and got me on the right path.”

Most days, when he’s not working at Reservoir Bar in Ybor City, he’s either skating at the Skatepark of Tampa or spending time with his buddies.

“This place kind of made me like, in skateboarding,” Kirkland said. “Like, it’s definitely a place to look up to.”

However, Kirkland’s not on a board at the moment, and if you see the scars on his face, you quickly learn why.

“I kind of woke up in a panic trying to get to work on time,” he said when recollecting the incident on April 13. “I looked straight into the headlights and then I was out cold, and I woke up in the ambulance.”

Kirkland was crossing the intersection at North 15th Street and Ybor Frontage Road, just north of Interstate 4, when a car hit him and then took off.

“I’m just, like, on this stretcher, and I look around and I’m in an ambulance,” Kirkland said. “And all I’m thinking is, ’Wow, I didn’t make it to work.”” 

By some miracle, Kirkland says a friend drove by, saw him and called for help.

As a result of the incident, Kirkland suffered significant head injuries.

“It was honestly all just in my face,” he said. “In my face, in my head. I got like I had the stitches, like (on the top of my head).”

Kirkland spent the next five days in the hospital.

But through his recovery and surgeries, he says loved ones were always by his side and that support is still happening even now that he’s out of the hospital.

One of his friends started a crowdfunding effort that’s raised nearly $19,000 for his medical bills, so far.

“The industry that I work and the community that I live in, they have my back like, they, they do care,” Kirkland said.

While Kirkland won’t be skating for at least a couple of weeks, at least he’s back in a place he loves, knowing his friends will support him on and off his board.

So far, there has been no announced arrest for the person responsible for hitting Kirkland.

Tampa police officials said they are looking for a silver car and a man most likely in his 20s or 30s, who was most likely wearing a gray sweater.

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