Josh Speidel is little by little becoming himself again

Little by little, Lisa Speidel can see her son becoming himself again. His sense of humor. His voice. His compassion.

Josh is coming back.

It's only been 15 weeks since the car accident that flipped the Speidels' life upside-down. It alternately seems like an eternity and five minutes ago. But 15 weeks, in the scope of his injury, is a blip on the radar. Josh, a Columbus North senior and standout basketball player, suffered a traumatic brain injury on that Feb. 1 night.

He's come so far, achieving stepping stones almost daily. There are more to come.

"We have goals," Lisa said. "Josh has goals. His graduation is (June 6) and open house on the 7th. We'll see. You take it one day at a time, sometimes one hour at a time. We can't make any promises, but just try to make decisions in Josh's best interests."

Lisa and her husband, Dave, never doubted Josh would make it back on this path, even in those first days after the accident when he didn't move and his eyes were closed. Now, though, progress is obvious.

On Friday, Josh emerged in the lobby of the Rehabilitation Hospital of Indiana. His sister, Jamie, walked behind his wheelchair but Josh did the work. His propelled the wheelchair forward with his feet, in the same manner Fred Flintstone would start his car in the old cartoon.

"Jamie's being rude," Josh said. "She's not pushing."

These witty one-liners are another sign that Josh is returning to his old self. His memory prior to the accident is intact. He can remember details of games, statistics and certainly his friends from high school. He lists the names of several friends who have visited in the hospital — Devin, Brice, Kooper, Sawyer, Trent, Elliott. The list goes on.

Josh remembers these friends well and their visits mean a great deal to him. So, too, does family. Josh is beginning to understand more about what happened to him.

"He's always apologizing," Lisa said. "He'll say things like, 'Mom, I'm sorry I put you through this.' We just tell him, 'That's what moms and dads do. It's all good.' "

There is frustration, too. It's part of the process. Josh is one of the 13 best high school senior basketball players in a hoops-crazed state. He's accustomed to most things coming easily for him physically. Josh has lost 50 pounds since the accident. The right side of his brain has taken longer to recover, meaning the usage of the left side of his body is behind the right.

"There is some frustration at times," Lisa said. "Things like learning to put his shorts on when you have a left side that doesn't function as well as it used to. But the therapists have done an amazing job. It's amazing to watch him come back. We told him at one point, he couldn't even moves his legs. We had to move them for him. He'll say, 'Thanks Mom and Dad. I'm glad you kept moving me.' "

Josh has been in one hospital or another since the accident. He misses home. He joked with his mom that they should just leave one night. No one would know, he said.

"You think no one would miss your 6-8 frame rolling around here saying 'Hi' to everyone?" Lisa told him.

In a more serious moment, Josh told his mom, "I miss the old days." Lisa cries for a moment as she recalls this interaction. "Me too," she told him.

"The 'new normal' is going to take a while," she said. "We're still so early in this recovery. Even though 15 weeks feels like forever, it's really very early. When we saw those little gains early on, they were huge at the time. But now that he's in the active recovery stage it's like, 'OK, here we go.' "

Josh watches the NBA playoffs. Blake Griffin's athleticism caught his eye.

"He's strong," Josh said, raising his right arm and flexing his bicep. "Just like me."

Lisa laughed. "That doesn't mean anything until you can do it with your left," she said.

Josh likes movies. "Coach Carter" is his favorite. "Glory Road" is another. Inspiration basketball stories. Josh still has his shooting touch, Lisa said. He shot on a goal after a workout walking on the parallel bars recently.

"That was a lot of fun for him," Lisa said.

It's too early to know how far Josh is capable of going. Doctors have told the Speidels all along that it could take up to 18 months to figure out a baseline for his recovery. The goal now is that he'll still go to Vermont and play basketball. It won't be this year, but maybe next year.

"We firmly believe that he'll make it to Vermont at some point in time," Lisa said.

Those are long-term milestones. The Speidels, especially Lisa, have learned not to look to far ahead. The family will have to decide this week on the next step in the location of Josh's rehabilitation.

"I was such a control freak — not anymore," she said. "'I think God said, 'That's what I want you to work on, Lisa.' What's the future look like? We're just positive that we're all going to be OK."

Josh looks different physically than he did just two or three weeks ago. His leg muscles are beginning to fill out. He's on a regular diet again, which apparently includes a lot of ice cream. Last week, the nurse's assistant checked in on him at 3 a.m. Josh was awake. She asked him if he needed anything. "Ice cream," Josh said.

"Dave woke up at 3:30 in the morning and Josh was eating ice cream," Lisa said. "He gets whatever he wants because he's so polite about it. We had to say no more ice cream in the middle of the night."

After a 10-minute visit in the lobby of the rehabilitation center, Josh turns his wheelchair to leave for a physical therapy session. Lisa asks if he remembers his physical therapist. "He's shorter than you," she said.

"Yeah," Josh replied. "A lot of people are shorter than me."

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.