SPOKANE, Wash. – A local teen badly injured in a crash on Highway 395 is making major strides in his recovery.
Taigen Balbi, 16, woke up Wednesday, tried to get out of bed and for the first time he spoke.
"He looked at his mom and just goes ‘Mom,’ and then after that, the thing that we were kind of dreading, ‘Where's Bay?’” Balbi said.
Ramiro Sanchez is facing one charge of vehicular homicide for the death of Bailey Roach, 16, and vehicular assault for Balbi. He pleaded not guilty in court Tuesday.
Court documents said Sanchez had been drinking and was going more than 100 mph before crashing into the car carrying the two teenagers. Ramiro Sanchez is set to go on trial in August.
"It's just the one thing you don't want to explain,” Balbi said. “It's his right hand."
His father said he is far from out of the woods but they continue to hope for improvements. He is also said to be breathing on his own.
"His progress has just been crazy,” Balbi said. “Leaps and bounds that are nothing short of a miracle."
Balbi has been in the hospital for nearly three weeks.
"He opened his eyes and kept them open,” Balbi said. “It was amazing."
Balbi did not have a broken bone in his body despite getting hit at such a high speed.
“Then I help up a picture of his truck on his phone and I started moving it around,” Balbi said. “He started going like this, doing what he was supposed to".
Taigen Balbi still has not been told of Roach’s death. On Wednesday night, his father said Taigen told his dad and family friend that he loved them.
