A Rutgers University graduate on spring break in Cancun with his pals was clinging to life after he was found poolside with massive head injuries.
Joseph “Zeke” Rucker, 21, who was planning to go to law school, has been in a coma with skull fractures and bleeding on the brain from the mysterious incident on March 15.
Rucker had traveled to the hotspot with a friend to celebrate his recent graduation — a gift from his parents.
When the pals returned to their hotel after a night on the town, Rucker decided to hang out by the swimming pool.
Around 4 a.m., hotel security discovered the Sewell, NJ, native about 30 to 40 feet away from the pool, lying in the grass with severe head trauma.
“He has two huge skull fractures in the back of his head and he has internal bleeding in his brain and hematoma,” said Rucker’s distraught father, Joseph, according to CBS.
It’s not clear what happened, but the hotel told the pal that Rucker had spoken to a security guard around 3 a.m., according to the network.
Rucker’s heartbroken parents believe that what happened to their son was no accident and are pushing investigators for answers.
“It’s apparent that there was some random act of violence,” said his father, Joseph.
His mom, Annie, said she did not believe her son fell.
“Where he was found, there was no place for him to fall. There wasn’t a balcony,” she told CBS. “He was found in a soft, grassy area.”
Rucker, who graduated in January with a philosophy degree, spent several days in a Mexican hospital before being flown to Ryder Trauma Center at Jackson Memorial Hospital in Miami where he is under heavy sedation and in a coma.
His parents flew from New Jersey to Mexico and then accompanied their son to Miami.
“It’s heartbreaking,” his mom told CBS. “His eyes are open but not focused. We don’t know if he even recognizes us.”
Rucker’s family said they have gotten very little support from Mexican police.
“They’re not compassionate,” said Annie Rucker. “The police never even met with us.”
The tragic grad’s parents thought a trip to Cancun would be an ideal graduation gift and that the resort town would be safe.
But they now feel terrible about the move. “We have a daughter and she will never go to Mexico,” Rucker’s mother told CBS. “We have seen a part of it that no parent should ever have to see.”