Boy can walk, talk after serious crash

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - A 13-year-old boy from Allegan County who nearly lost his life in a crash earlier this year and was in critical condition for weeks can now walk and talk.

In an online blog, the family of Travis Rouwhorst said he started talking Thursday and even took a few steps.

"Travis is talking! He can say his ABC's, count to 10, add, say opposites and is able to name family members," the CarePage blog reads in part. "He needed a lot of help, but he walked 85 feet total!"

This is sudden progress for the boy, who was 12 when his brother was driving him to school near Hamilton on June 4. The older brother did not stop at a stop sign and their car was broadsided by a pickup truck.

Travis spent a month at Helen DeVos Children's Hospital in Grand Rapids after sustaining severe injuries to multiple areas of his brain. Initially, doctors gave him a 5% chance of surviving three days after the crash, according to a June 11 post. He was in a medically-induced coma for days.

He was transferred to Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids nearly two months ago.

Until Tuesday, Travis hadn't said anything, but then he said "hi" and "mom."

Thursday's CarePages posting ends by saying Travis still has a long way to go, but the realm of possibilities has just broken wide open.

"There is no other way to explain this than simply to call it a miracle," the blog reads. "There really is no medical explanation. No MRI, no CT scan, no doctor would have guessed this was ever possible. 10 years of experience as a therapist working in a hospital and a brain injury specialty certification and I would have never guessed this would have been possible."