After a 15-hour flight from Iraq, Michael VanWagner's sister, Dana, arrived at his hospital room three hours before he died at 1:51 p.m. Thursday.
"He held on long enough for me to get home," she said.
The UF history senior had suffered serious head injuries after he was hit by a car while riding his scooter Tuesday near the intersection of West University Avenue and Northwest 17th Street. He wasn't wearing a helmet.
The green Lincoln Town Car also hit two cars before rolling to a stop about two blocks away.
Driver Monica Toliver, 40, has not been arrested. Pending an investigation, she could face multiple charges including leaving an accident with a death, GPD spokeswoman Summer Hallett said.
VanWagner was brought to Shands at UF in critical condition.
He went into a coma, and doctors said he would have brain damage if he survived, Dana VanWagner said. The family decided Thursday to remove him from life support, she said.
The VanWagners were very close, she said, and Michael was the one who made everyone laugh and forget their differences.
"He was definitely the glue for our family," she said.
They live in Sparr, about 20 miles from Gainesville. Michael VanWagner's close friend Christina Jacobson, a student at Central Florida Community College, lives there, too.
"If I needed him, he would drive home right then," Jacobson said.
He loved his burgundy Nissan Titan truck, but it was big, and he often rode his sister's old scooter.
He loved living in Gainesville.
"He's wanted to graduate a Gator since he was a little boy," she said.
UF spokesman Steve Orlando said arrangements are being made to send VanWagner's family his class ring and posthumous degree.
This weekend, Jacobson and VanWagner would have gone to the Southeastern Conference Championship Game in Atlanta. He had no respect for those who weren't going.
She doesn't think she'll go now.
VanWagner loved football and fishing, and he would have played basketball every day if he could, she said.
Larry Messer, a UF building construction senior who used to play pick-up basketball games with him, said VanWagner could get a mean look on his face as he drove the ball up the court.
"He was pretty intense," Messer said.
He also loved to help others, Messer said, and was always willing to lend a hand with his truck to people in Gator Christian Life, where he went to services.
"He did anything and everything for anyone," Jacobson said.
Family members said they plan to make funeral arrangements today.
Alligator Writer Katie Emmets contributed to this report.
