His mother, Shirley Waters said Monday that Mike Waters, who received head injuries along with broken ribs and bruised lungs, had not regained consciousness. However, she said he did begin opening his eyes occasionally last weekend, and added that his physicians remain guarded about his condition.

Friends and relatives have set up donation jars at various sites in Tonganoxie, trying to raise money for the family that includes four small children, Waters said.

“We’ve had good response with that,” she said. “If they could just keep that up until we find out what’s going to happen.”

Waters does have health insurance, she said.

“But we’re finding out that it doesn’t cover a lot of things, like care once he gets out of here,” Waters said.

Family life has been disrupted by the accident, said Waters, who has spent most nights since the accident at the hospital.

“We’re trying to keep things as normal as possible for the children, and trying to give them a halfway good Christmas,” Waters said. “They’ve been through a lot. They finally got to see their father Saturday. They hadn’t seen him for two weeks, and it was really getting hard on them.”

For the last five days, Waters has been breathing without the assistance of a respirator. “But they still put him back on it at night so he can rest better,” his mother said.

For now, his prognosis remains unknown.

“At this point it’s just wait and see,” Waters said. “And that’s the hard part waiting and not knowing.”