RICHARDSON -- Twelve days have passed. Ryan Hollingshead still is in a neck brace, but there was progress Wednesday. It was the first day he was able to get out of bed for more than a few minutes at a time.

Hollingshead, FC Dallas' 25-year-old midfielder, is mending physically and emotionally, managing a few smiles between winces while describing the harrowing events of the night of Jan. 6.

Most North Texans remember it as the Friday when icy roads snarled traffic. For Hollingshead, it's the night he and another Good Samaritan were standing on the Bush Tollway shoulder helping a fellow motorist when they were struck by another car and launched into the air.

Hollingshead, police officers at the scene later estimated, flew 30 feet and hit the guardrail, then concrete. He suffered fractures of the C2, C5 and C6 vertebrae of his cervical spine.

"My head didn't get hit at all, so I remember it all very vividly," Hollingshead said. "It felt like I was in the air way longer than I was, I'm sure. It felt like I was in the air for a minute.

"But I was spinning, so I didn't see anything because it was dark and I was spinning. It would be like if you were spinning in a circle. You see things, but nothing makes sense. It's all just a blur.

"Then I just remember hitting the ground and landing and thinking, 'Am I OK? Can I move?' And I couldn't, originally. So for 10 seconds I sat there thinking, 'Oh, I'm paralyzed, for sure.' And I slowly started getting feeling back in my hands and feet and I'm thinking, 'Yes, thank you, Lord.'"

The public didn't learn about the accident until two days later, when FC Dallas issued a news release, sharing few details beyond the fact Hollingshead was injured while helping a then-unidentified motorist. The same day, FC Dallas tweeted a photo of Hollingshead on his back in a bed at Medical Center of Plano, with five-month-old son Henry next to him.

There is a strong bond between a father & his son. @FCDallas player @rmhollingshead is out of the hospital & sharing his story on @NBCDFW pic.twitter.com/BEY3cb9lXi — Chris Jose (@ChrisJoseWSB) January 18, 2017

After learning that one of the Samaritans who tried to help him was Hollingshead, Nigeria-born Abiodun Shuaib contacted local TV stations, wanting to thank Hollingshead and the still unidentified other Samaritan.

Wednesday was the first time Hollingshead felt well enough to give interviews, to The Dallas Morning News and local TV stations. New details of the accident also emerged, including the fact that Hollingshead's wife of four years, Taylor, was with him that night.

Ryan and Taylor Hollingshead, driving an SUV, actually were en route to help a friend who was stranded on the highway. Thankfully, little Henry, who already has acquired the nickname of Huck, was at home in Richardson with Chris and Kim Pearson and their four children.

The Pearsons and Hollingsheads are friends and fellow members of The Village Church in Plano. The Hollingsheads live above the Pearsons' garage.

The Hollingsheads were in Irving, driving south on the Bush Tollway, when they came upon Shuaib's Toyota Camry, which had come to rest in the passing lane after hitting a guard rail.

In a telephone interview Wednesday evening, Shuaib told The News that he skidded on black ice. His airbags deployed. His car wouldn't restart. It was about 8 p.m. and his headlights were inoperable. Ryan Hollingshead sensed that cars might have difficulty spotting Shuaib's Camry, so he pulled his vehicle in front of it and ran back to help Shuaib.

Another motorist, driving a truck, also pulled over in front of the Camry, turned on his hazard lights and ran over to Hollingshead and Shuaib, who had just gotten out of his car.

"They're asking me if I'm fine," Shuaib recalled. "Just then I heard the noise of the car coming. Ryan was close to me, so I tried to reach out, but the other car hit my car. Ryan and the other guy went flying."

Shuaib, somehow, wasn't struck by the Dodge. His only injuries, from his initial accident, were a sore neck and a hairline fracture in one rib.

Hollingshead said he saw the oncoming car, a Dodge sedan driven by an 18-year-old woman, in his peripheral vision, but not until it was about five feet from him. Police told Hollingshead that they estimate the vehicle was traveling 40-to-50 mph, fortunately slowed somewhat after plowing the back of the Camry.

"I had no time to react," Hollingshead said. "The only thing I could think to do was just turn and try to flex and keep my body taut. That way I'm not flailing around."

And what of Taylor Hollingshead? Since the Hollingsheads' SUV was in front of the Camry, facing forward, she didn't see Ryan get hit. Nor did she hear anything.

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Ryan says that once he was able to stand, though hobbling and barely able to move his arms, he had instant fear that another car would hit his SUV and endanger Taylor.

When Ryan, in 20-degree weather, got alongside the SUV, it took Taylor several seconds to realize that his face had abrasions, his sweatshirt was torn and his shoes were gone. Later, a policeman retrieved Ryan's cell phone from the windshield of one of the crashed cars, unscathed.

"I was totally oblivious to anything that had happened, which we think is totally a grace from the Lord," Taylor said. "Because there was no panic. There wasn't any emotion. I was just able to go into management mode."

All the while, Shuaib's wife of five days, Tashria Moore, was in terror. She wasn't at the scene, but, rather, at home. Her husband had called her seconds after the initially accident. He dropped his phone when the second collision occurred.

"I heard people screaming," Moore said. "I heard a woman's voice in the background say, 'I saw it. I'm a witness.' Oh my God, I heard everything. I'm sitting there for 20 or 30 seconds, screaming my husband's name. I didn't know what happened."

A few days ago, Moore got a copy of the police report and learned that the other Samaritan's last name is McDonald. His insurance company informed Moore that Mr. McDonald had surgery a few days ago and is recovering, though Moore was not told of the man's specific injuries.

Shuaib and Moore say they are eternally grateful that two strangers stopped to help Shuaib, who has lived in the United States for two years.

"It's not something I like to recall," Shuaib said. "When I do, it gives me sad moments. These two guys came to check on me and they got hit. It's very, very shocking. A terrible thing to remember, but I was so glad when I heard the news that they were fine."

FC Dallas begins training camp for the 2017 season on Monday. Doctors believe Hollingshead's fractures will heal without need for surgery and that he can return to the pitch soon, though perhaps not in time for FC Dallas' March 3 season opener.

Shuaib and Moore say they would love to meet Hollingshead and Mr. McDonald, to thank them in person. They also plan to attend the FC Dallas game in which Ryan returns. Ryan and Taylor Hollingshead said Wednesday they would love to have Shuaib and Moore over for dinner soon.

Ryan Hollingshead said that if a similar situation occurred again, he would make sure he was more aware of his surroundings while checking on a motorist or anyone else in need.

"That's my only regret," he said. "But I don't regret pulling over. And I don't regret trying to get him out of the car because I stand by the fact that he would have been in trouble if he couldn't have gotten out by himself."

Said Taylor Hollingshead: "We've seen in such small ways the kindness of the Lord, just providing in the last week in ways we couldn't have anticipated. Obviously the biggest is that his life was spared. That is a huge deal, but also the feeling that it's true that He's in the details.

"He's been with us every step."