Benbrook Teen Beats Odds After Horrific Car Crash

A teenager severely injured in a car crash two months is already back at his part-time job.

Just 16 days after he was released from the hospital, Michael Batts returned to Marble Slab Creamery on Saturday.

"It makes me really happy," he said.  "I've missed work a lot."

Batts, who has cerebral palsy, had severe brain damage and was in a near coma after a Nov. 7 crash on his way to a choral performance at Paschal High School. The car he was driving was totaled.

"I have all these rips in my brain all over the place," he said.

His father, Kerry Batts, compared the brain injury to that of babies after shaken baby syndrome.

"This was very, very serious," said Paula Batts, his mother. "(We) didn't know if he would wake up."

When Batts woke up, he was unable to walk or talk and had no memory of what happened.

"I woke up, and they told me I had brain damage, and I thought that I was dreaming," Batts said.

He also sustained a broken pelvis and broken ribs.

Batts was in a semiconscious state for about six weeks. The odds were against him for both survival and rehabilitation, but he was determined to fight.

"He progressed so much, and it was literally within one week," his mother said.

But he was released from the hospital sooner than expected, "so now I definitely can eat by myself and walk without supervision," Batts said.

He still has a long road ahead of him and issues with his memory.

"I don't remember at all before the wreck for like at least a month," Batts said.

But he and his family are creating new memories.

"I think in every life there are these opportunities that come along and show you what's important, and we've had ours," Kerry Batts said. "Every moment is more precious now."

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