LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A celebration for Ethan Bowling took place at UofL's Frazier Rehab, staff helping with the 17-year-old teenager's recovery lining the halls, applauding his first steps towards his Breathitt County home.
Walking by his little brother's side on Wednesday, Bowling defied doctor's expectations. They said he would never walk again.
"Your son will never breathe on his own," Elizabeth Little, the boy's mother, said recounting what doctors told her. "He will never know what's going on. He will be in a bed in a vegetative state."
Instead, Bowling rang a gong on his way out of rehab. The moment was a gift, but not one that was given to him. He had to earn it.
"He's been up since 3 o'clock this morning. It's almost like Christmas morning," Little said.
Bowling already has plans for the pool for when he gets back.
"To swim, and eat me a big steak," he said, grinning. His mother agreed with a laugh.
The shared smiles come after his 93rd day in a medical facility. Bowling landed in rehab last month following hospital visits back home and Lexington.
Bowling was riding in a truck with his two buddies when they crashed in May.
"I was in the backseat, in the middle," he recalled.
"Just an accident," the mother explained. "[His friend] had hydroplaned and it spun and they hit a tree."
Bowling's brain started bleeding after the wreck, but the football, track and wrestling star was determined to return to the field. It's a lesson he learned from his parents.
"You get up, you dust yourself off, and you go from there," Little said.
Their support kept his recovery from stalling as they pushed their son to get moving before he got to rehab.
"I feel like that makes the biggest difference for a lot of our folks, and just that internal determination of, 'I got this, I'm gonna keep going, I'm gonna show you,'" Patricia Tallon said.
Tallon was one of Bowling's physical therapists, helping him to walk on his own again. After 15 years at Frazier, she's seen miracles like these before, but it never gets old.
"You don't get used to it, but it does happen," she said.
"A mom or a dad has to take that extra burden on their shoulders. I think that's the reason you become parents," Little explained, saying there's always hope for the other families facing this struggle. Bowling's advice is similar.
"Don't give up on this," he said.
Now that he's on his own two feet again, Bowling's mom can worry about his homecoming.
"I'm hoping our yard will hold the people that's gonna be at our home," she said.
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