CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A Myers Park High School senior who was almost killed in a serious accident on the way to school in February finally went home Tuesday.
Thomas Crain said goodbye to the nurses and staff at the Levine Children's Hospital, where he has spent the past two and a half months, and went to the home he shares with his parents, sister and brother.
"I'm really excited to go home," Thomas said as he walked out of the hospital.
It marks the end of 76 days of waiting and hoping and praying for a family that said his recovery is nothing short of a miracle.
"When he first spoke, that was big for me," said Jim Crain, his father. "That was a big day and he started reading the cards on the wall. He looked around the room and started reading."
"Since then, we just haven't given up hope that he would walk out of that hospital," his mother, Lucy Crain, said.
Thomas said he does not remember anything about the accident on Sharon Amity Road on Feb. 23. Police said he was pulling onto Sharon Amity when his SUV was hit by another car. The driver of the other car was not charged.
The impact put Thomas in a coma, and on Tuesday he described what was a long, slow awakening.
"It's like I was in this fog in my brain and as I started getting better, I could feel myself slowly coming out of it," he said. "When people came and saw me in ICU or in rehab, I told them I was too stubborn to die."
"He's just really made a remarkable recovery right down the line from the beginning. We're just very thankful," Jim Crain said.
The Crains said they could not have made it without the help and support of many neighbors and friends.
"I know that all the people praying for him on day one are going to be praying for him on day 101 and 201, and we're just going to get through it," Lucy Crain said.
WSOC
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