Tampa student improving after crash

By COLLEEN JENKINS
Published April 10, 2007

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TAMPA - A 2006 Middleton High graduate was recuperating Monday from a crash in Panama that killed two fellow students and injured another.

Johnathan Cox, 18, suffered a collapsed lung and a broken arm when the car he was traveling in plunged off a cliff on a mountainous road Friday. He and three students were en route to a weekend camping trip.

Cox, now a pre-med student at Florida State University, had been studying abroad at the university's campus in Panama City, Panama.

His mother, Margaret Cox, flew to Panama to be with her only child.

"He is continuing to improve," FSU spokesman Barry Ray said.

Cox was an Eagle Scout and ran cross country and track during his Middleton years. His coach said he had a tight-knit group of friends.

That was evident from the messages posted on his Facebook and MySpace pages, where two male friends admitted to choking up when they learned of Cox's crash.

"I seriously almost threw up when my mom told me," wrote Benjamin Salazar, a fellow Middleton alumnus. "I don't know what I would've done if the news was otherwise."

Times staff writer Sherri Day contributed to this story. Colleen Jenkins can be reached at 813 226-3337 or cjenkins@sptimes.com.