A 13 year old boy was walking home from school on a dark November afternoon, when he crossed a busy 4 lane A road without looking properly and was hit by a car going at 40mph. He was thrown 20 feet, had massive head injuries, his right foot was turned back on itself, he had teeth knocked out as well as cuts and 'road rash' to his legs and a huge flap of skin lifted on his back, where his school clothes had ridden up and he'd been sliced by something in the accident. There was blood everywhere.
Someone at the scene applied pressure to stem the bleeding on his back and tried to give basic first aid, but he was unconscious, with no reaction to stimuli.
Another child from his school knew who he was, so the Police were able to identify him and rush to his DM, who was at work 15 minutes drive from the hospital.
DM was obviously terrified, even more so when the Police Officer asked for an update on his condition via the Police radio whilst they were speeding to the hospital and the reply came "It's not looking good I'm afraid". DM says that the scariest moment was when the Officer driving the Police car reacted to this news by flipping on the blue light and sirens and racing through traffic and red lights to get her to the hospital, hopefully in time to see her DS before he died.
At the hospital, medics removed part of his skull to relieve the pressure on his brain and he was eventually taken to ICU. The Consultants said that his head injuries were so severe, that he was very unlikely to wake from his coma and that even if he did, he would very likely have severe deficits and would be unable to lead a 'normal' life.
During the days that followed, surgeons operated again to insert a metal plate in his skull, his teeth back into place and various screws and pins into his ankle. His face was unrecognisable as his eyes swelled shut and the tubes squeezed through his swollen lips and up his broken nose. His DM, DF, DS and DBs all came to sit with him, to talk to him and eventually, to say their goodbyes.
He was in a coma for 6 very long days.
Then, one Monday, at about 3 o'clock in the afternoon, he opened his eyes - he could only squint as they were still swollen, but the Nurses bustled around him, fetched his DM and later that day, he came off the ventilator, was able to take small sips of water and respond to simple questions!
The medics warned his DM again that her DS may not be the same boy he was before he had the accident; that he might not be able to walk, to talk, to care for himself - or even on the less dramatic end of the scale, he might suffer from changes to his personality, such as violent outbursts.
Within a day or two, it became clear that he had been incredibly lucky and had escaped with all his faculties in tact! He had several further operations on his damaged ankle and had to use a crutch for a while, but after less than 3 months off school, he was back just after February half term and was an awful lot more careful when crossing roads from then on!
30 years on and the only lasting effects are the need to wear an ankle support when he plays football, some pretty impressive scars and an ability to make metal detectors beep!
That very, very ill little boy, who came so very close to death, is now my wonderful DH, Daddy to our 2 DDs - I think that's pretty miraculous!
I truly hope your family have a miraculous, happy outcome too OP.