GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Back in March, Charlie Nolph of Owosso took a drive that would change his life forever.
"There was a deer that ran right in front of me. I swerved to miss it. I was aiming for the fence next to the tree that I went into. I ended up catching air with the loose gravel and wet road, and I landed in the tree," he said.
"I was half in the front and half in the back, and my legs were stuck under the dash, and the steering wheel collapsed on me.
Charlie was in a coma for more than a month.
"We never knew what to expect. We didn't know if he would know who we were. We didn't know if he would know who he was or what happened," said Charlie's mom Erin.
Doctors at a mid-Michigan hospital didn't give the family a lot of hope that Charlie would ever recover. But then a friend shared with them a story that Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital had done on Sam Smalldon, a Holland teenager who was badly injured in a crash at 160th Avenue and Riley Street back in late 2022. Since his accident, Sam has graduated from West Ottawa High School. He's walking and driving again. He even got a job at Pioneer Construction.
"Sam was a patient here and we were watching the video and I thought Sam looked a lot like Charlie. His accident looked a lot like Charlie's. There were so many similarities in the video we saw. But Sam was walking on his own, and I thought this kid got his miracle. Why can't my kid get his?" Erin said.
Since then, Charlie has been at Mary Free Bed doing physical, occupational, and speech therapy, re-learning all the skills his brain injury caused him to lose.
"I'm just so proud of him. The amount of work that he is putting into this is just remarkable. He gets up every day and he's ready work. He goes to bed at night and he's exhausted. He has a few bad days here and there, but he just does it. He wants to walk. He wants to have his life back. He's going to get everything he wants because he's going to work hard and get it," Erin said.
Charlie's family also reached out to Sam, who was happy to meet Charlie and give him some encouragement.
"I just said it's possible. Keep going. If you're recovering and still doing better and still able to do it, just keep doing it until you are where you want to be with it," said Sam.
Charlie appreciated those words.
"It really brought us a lot of hope. It made my mom and dad feel hope that I was going to get better and do whatever I want. It gave me hope to do whatever I want to because I've seen it. I've talked to him. He's gotten a job. He graduated. He drives. It's really been inspiring," Charlie said.
"I'm going to get better and get back to my previous life and keep on doing all the things I've ever wanted to do. I don't want to ever see that wheelchair again after I leave," he said.
Charlie is scheduled to undergo surgery on Friday. If all goes well, he's expected to be discharged from Mary Free Bed on August 1. He hopes his story will get shared with someone who needs a little hope, because he wants to be for someone else what Sam has been for him.
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