GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — In July, 13 ON YOUR SIDE's Matt Gard introduced the community to Charlie Nolph of Owosso.
Charlie had been in a crash in March that left him in a coma for more than a month.
"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.
Doctors at a mid-Michigan hospital didn't give the family a lot of hope that Charlie would ever recover from his traumatic brain injury.
"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.
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.
Inspired by Sam, Charlie worked hard at physical, occupational and speech therapy at Mary Free Bed.
After 115 days, Charlie was able to walk out the door with just the aid of a hand crutch, surrounded by cheering nurses, doctors and therapists.
Staff wore "Team Charlie" shirts and even leopard print speedos in honor of Charlie's time on his high school swim team as they wished him well on his way home.
