By Jeff Todd

THORNTON, Colo. (CBS4)– As far as Melvin Hamilton and Tiana Palma were concerned it was a normal Wednesday afternoon, but without even the slightest hint of what was to come, they were crushed.

Hamilton and Palma were inside a Nissan SUV headed southbound on Interstate 25 just past 136th Avenue when a tire had come off a northbound vehicle, bounced over the center median, and slammed into their car.

Palma says the only thing she remembers is telling Hamilton to brake. Somehow, they ended up on the right side shoulder as other drivers called 911.

“You don’t ever think you’re driving down the road and somebody’s tire is going to fall off,” said Palma who spent one day in the hospital.

“I have no recollection whatsoever of what happened. I don’t remember the tire. I remember the EMTs pulling me out. I remember they’re talking like there’s no way I’m going to make it,” Hamilton said.

He spent nearly a week in the hospital; the first three days were almost a medically induced coma.

“Numerous doctors telling me I’m lucky to be alive. Nurses; I hear it about five or six times a day,” Hamilton said.

Palma only had scrapes and cuts from the broken glass. Hamilton broke his skull, orbital, jaw and right hand. Two weeks after the crash he still has massive black eyes.

“They had to dig glass out of his eyes. It’s pretty traumatic,” Palma said.

She went back to the car a few days later.

“Nothing does it justice until you’re there and you see all the broken glass and the radio is completely gone. The visors were in the backseat, there is no roof of the car, there is glass and blood everywhere,” Palma said.

Because of the impact, doctors are most concerned about Hamilton’s concussion and traumatic brain injury. It is believed he may never regain full function of his brain.

“I have to lay in a dark room after a while. I really can’t do no chores, it’s almost depressing because I like to work and I can’t do it,” Hamilton said.

Hamilton and Palma run their own small business. That has now been put on hold while they both recover.

“Bills don’t stop,” Palma said. “I just make sure he’s not trying to do anything. He’s pretty stubborn, he wants to shower by himself, he can’t cook, and he can’t really walk.”

Friends have set up a GoFundMe account to help with expenses.

Jeff Todd joined the CBS4 team in 2011 covering the Western Slope in the Mountain Newsroom. Since 2015 he’s been working across the Front Range in the Denver Headquarters. Follow him on Twitter @CBS4Jeff.