One day, Dylan Rizzo, a beloved son and high school athlete, was driving to a friend's house when his car hit a patch of ice. The vehicle spun sideways and hit a telephone pole. The pole hit Dylan directly on the head. Within an hour of arriving at the hospital, neurosurgeons removed the left side of his skull to make room for his swelling brain. Dylan slipped into a coma for two weeks. The verdict wasn't good; even after waking up, doctors declared Steve and Tracy's son a vegetable.
"Our family was in the waiting room," Tracy recalled. "And I said, 'We can't come out and tell our family that. I can't even say these words. I can't say it.'"
The family could not accept that Dylan was going to be in a vegetative state the rest of his life. That's when a medical researcher, Joseph Giacino, offered a seed of hope. He believed that what Dylan needed was more time and that 40 percent of patients diagnosed as vegetables often have some conscious awareness. There was a chance Dylan had been misdiagnosed.
"There's evidence that if you do rehearsal of a particular behavior, including in a damaged brain, it may well get better," Joseph said.
So that's what the family and Dylan's physical therapists began to do. They rehearsed behaviors: first it was lifting bowling pins, then it was writing, then walking, and even talking. With each challenge Dylan showed great promise. With each challenge, another seed of hope was planted, until finally after five years, they grew into what can only be described as a miraculous recovery.
"I feel great," Dylan told CBS. "Slowly but surely, it's getting a little better. I'm good, but I'm not that good!"
See more of this incredible story of hope below and please SHARE on Facebook if Dylan's progress inspires you to never give up!
