Brad Pitt Is ‘Devastated’ by Son Pax’s Bike Accident and ‘Won’t Give Up on Fighting’ to See Him

He wasn’t wearing a helmet — and witnesses feared he was dead. On July 29, Angelina Jolie and Brad Pitt’s son Pax crashed his electric bike into the back of a car at a red light near his mom’s L.A. home during rush hour. He injured his hip and suffered a serious head injury — reports confirmed a brain bleed. “His mouth was filled with blood,” Lola Cavalli, who rendered medical aid to the 20-year-old “right in the middle of an intersection” until paramedics arrived, says of the harrowing scene.

Pax was hospitalized and spent a week in the ICU. While he has since been released from the ICU, Pax is “not out of the woods.”

Reports soon emerged that he’d suffered complex trauma and faces a long road of recovery and physical therapy.

“Pax suffered serious head trauma and a hip injury, so he has a long way to go yet,” a source exclusively tells In Touch. “Pax was banged up. Doctors determined he had a minor brain bleed and a hip injury. He’ll have to do lots of physical therapy to get back to where he was.”

While his mother, 49, and siblings, Maddox, 23, Zahara, 19, Shiloh, 18, and twins Knox and Vivienne, 16, have been by his side, a source says his heartbroken father, 60, has been kept away. “Brad is devastated by what happened,” the separate insider exclusively tells In Touch. “He loves Pax. Pax is his son. But Brad can’t see him.”

Their relationship has been strained ever since a 2016 altercation on a private plane led Angelina to file for divorce. On Father’s Day 2020, Pax allegedly posted a scathing takedown of his dad in a private Instagram Story, branding him a “world class a–hole,” a “terrible and despicable person” and a “f–king awful human being” who’s made his youngest children “tremble in fear” when they’re in his presence. “You have made the lives of those closest to me a constant hell,” Pax added.

Those words have haunted Brad. “He’s a changed man. He wishes Angelina and Pax could see that,” says the source, noting that the Oscar-winning actor got sober in the wake of his split from Angelina and fought for joint custody for years. “Angelina will probably never change her opinion of Brad, but he prays Pax will come around one day. Brad won’t give up on fighting to see his son.”

For now, Brad is grateful for any updates he can glean. “At first he was finding things out like the rest of the world — by reading the news.” Then it was reported that “concerned people around the family” had been able to share some information about Pax’s injuries and recovery with his “grateful” father.

Still, adds the source, “it’s like a knife to the heart. It’s Brad’s worst nightmare — his son is in crisis, but Brad can’t do anything to help him. It’s tearing him up inside.”

“Brad has tried to reach Pax, but Pax won’t take his calls,” says the insider. “All Brad can do is wait and worry on his own. He’s deeply concerned and heartbroken.”