A mum whose son was "certified dead" six months ago feels "stupidly overwhelmed" as the miracle teenager now spoke again for the first time to say: "Mum, I love you".
Lewis Roberts' parents had been told to say goodbye to their son after he suffered catastrophic head injuries when he was struck by a van in Leek.
The 18-year-old pedestrian had been flown by air ambulance to Royal Stoke University Hospital, where the family were given the crushing news he'd suffered "brain stem death" .
Doctors also recorded him as an organ donator, a decision turned out to be life-saving as it bought Lewis some extra time on life support and, just hours before the surgery, he began to breathe on his own again, Stoke-on-TrentLive reports.
Since then the former Leek High School student Lewis has remained seriously ill at the Royal Stoke and even turned 19 on July 11.
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However, Lewis, from Blackshaw Moor, near Leek, had a surprise for his loved-ones last weekend when he said his very first words since the crash: "Mum, I love you".
In an update on September 18, his sister Jade Roberts said: "We want to scream from the rooftops, it's the best feeling ever. Lewis has just spoken his very very very first words with my mum.
"After six months and three weeks of not saying one thing, Lewis said not just one word but a full sentence.
"He said 'Mum, I love you.... you're the best', as clear as day.
"As you can imagine mum is a crying, blubbering mess.
"We're all stupidly, stupidly overwhelmed. It's unbelievable. He's an amazing, amazing boy."
Emergency services had been called to the scene at the junction of Broad Street and Hartington Street at 3pm on March 13, with the air ambulance landing at nearby Westwood Golf Club.
It was four days later that doctors broke the news that nothing more could be done for him.
But just hours later on March 18, he started to breathe again on his own.
Jade revealed the family have been allowed to visit Lewis nearly every day in hospital despite the coronavirus pandemic.
She said: "The hospital has supported our visits with Lewis massively.
"But after such an uplifting and positive weekend with Lewis when he spoke, unfortunately our visits have now been stopped for 10 to 14 days due to a positive corona case of a patient on his bay.
"It's a massive massive worry for us all now and torture not being able be with Lewis for what's going to feel like a lifetime for us.
"I feel for poor Lewis having to be all on his own with no visits, it's just heartbreaking. There's been so many ups and downs but there's only another six days to go.
"We're hoping and praying Lewis doesn't get it as unfortunately they have still not been able to give him his jabs and he's very vulnerable."
Since the crash, a fund-raising appeal has collected nearly £6,000.
The latest update reads: "Lewis is progressing every single day. He is now listening to commands by squeezing your hand and releasing it when asked to. We are so so so proud of Lewis! Thank you so much to everyone for all your love and support."
