ANAHUAC, Texas — An Anahuac teen who survived a crash that killed two of his friends continues to recover in the hospital after nearly two months.
Anahuac High School senior and varsity athlete Gage Leath has endured 14 surgeries at a Houston hospital since the crash on Aug. 12.
Treveyn Williams and Ja'Vion West died at the scene of the fiery wreck along FM1985 just over 20 miles from Anahuac High School, where they were students.
Brandi Bryant has refused to leave her son's side since he was hospitalized. Now, she's counting on support from family and friends to help him through his recovery.
"He's got burns on over 40% of his body, he had perforations to his intestines, his left leg was broken, his left ankle was broken," she said.
Bryant tells 12News she had talked to her son just 30 minutes before the tragic accident.
"I got a call from my sons asking me if I'd talked to Gage, and I told them I'd talked to him about 30 minutes before the accident and then after that his friends kept calling me," she said. "His friends were thinking that Gage had passed because they were saying he was laying in the middle of the road."
Although Leath survived, both he and his mother knew the road to recovery was going to be a long one.
"They said it will be 12 to 18 months of physical therapy. he's having to learn how to walk again. He'll have to learn how to use his hands, what's left. He'll have to learn how to do everything. He's gonna have a lot of limitations," Bryant said.
Since the crash, the community has leaned on one another by holding a balloon release and a candlelight vigil in honor of the victims.
Through it all, Leath and his mother have been doing their best to maintain some normalcy.
"We'll talk about school, we're working on some classes. They set him up on some online things to keep him on track to be able to graduate on time. We watch a lot of movies," Bryant said.
Bryant has reached out to the parents of Williams and West on her son's behalf. She says they don't blame Leath for the crash. At this point, they're just praying for each other.
"He's a good person. He's just fighting to get better, to get out of this hospital. We appreciate the prayers," Bryant said.
The community has donated more than $16,000 to help with Leath's medical expenses, which exceeds the organizers' initial goal.