‘It’s our Christmas miracle’: Two months after Logan Jacobs was rushed to hospital following a car crash, he’s now in rehabilitation

For the family of Logan Jacobs, Christmas came early this year.

The gift wasn't wrapped in a box with a shiny red bow or tucked into a cheesy greeting card. It didn't take the form of a shiny new electronic or a fuzzy pair of socks.

Instead, it was the closing of a chapter and the start of a new beginning," said Cassandra Fallon, the Cayuga teen's sister.

Just a little over 60 days ago, on Oct. 23, Fallon got a call that changed her life.

Jacobs, 19, had been transported to Hamilton General Hospital with life-threatening injuries following a two-vehicle crash shortly after 4:35 p.m. south of Caledonia.

In a release, Haldimand County OPP said first responders were called to the intersection of Haldimand Road 9 and River Road in York for a crash involving a tractor trailer and a sedan. Fallon's brother was gravely injured while the driver of the tractor trailer was uninjured, police said.

He'd suffered several broken bones, and a bleed in his brain and lung. He was fighting pneumonia, as well as acute respiratory distress syndrome, also known as ARDS, which is a type of lung failure. Jacobs had also been left with severe brain damage.

But, as of Wednesday, Jacobs' condition has improved - enough so that he's been transferred to Hamilton Health Sciences's Regional Rehabilitation Centre on Wellington Street North.

It's just the best gift my family could have gotten," said Fallon. We say it's our Christmas miracle."

The journey to rehab hasn't been an easy one for Jacobs and he still has a long way to go, said Fallon.

He had a breathing tube, but it's since been removed. He cannot eat on his own, so he is fed through a tube into his stomach. He still has many fractures and all are weight-bearing."

But, his pneumonia has cleared up and he's recovered from ARDS. He's still not fully alert, but he's responding to his family and has regained some motion in his both legs and one of his arms.

He can move them spontaneously and on command, really consistently," said Fallon. It's so amazing because it started with wiggling his toes and then all of a sudden he could move his ankle and it worked its way up."

Jacobs is still not speaking, said Fallon, but he can communicate through very subtle" head nods. He also recognizes Fallon, but he doesn't know that she is his sister. He does look up when she visits him in the hospital, however, and he seems excited. He can also do very basic math on an iPad.

That's a big breakthrough," she said. That will help us to communicate his needs."

The family is also seeing bits of progress in the little things.

Earlier this week, Fallon and her husband, Marty Taylor, had an early Christmas celebration with Jacobs in the hospital. The pair brought him a wrapped present with tissue paper. The family's dream this year was for him to be able to open a gift - or even just show some interest.

In the beginning, Jacobs wasn't really into it, but by the afternoon, when he was more awake and with some encouragement, he pulled the tissue papers out one by one. Inside the bag was a little basketball net and a ball - something he can play with to work on hand movement.

Before I could even get it fully out of the bag, bam, he put it right in the net," said Fallon. It was so heartwarming ... and really special to share that."

With Jacobs now settled into rehab, the family is hoping his condition will keep improving, something they feared would not have happened if he hadn't been accepted into the program. Fallon credits his transfer - after being declined once before - to the advocacy of his physiotherapist and his charge nurse.

They fought and fought and fought," she said. On so many levels, it's just the best thing."

Jacobs will have a speech pathologist. There is a pool and a gym for physiotherapy. He'll even get dressed every morning - something Fallon questioned if she'd ever see again.

The goal is to get him talking and eating again, but Fallon is trying to remain realistic." If Jacobs stays the way he is, they're happy to take him home and care for him. But Fallon does hope he gains some independence to be able to do things on his own.

Fallon's greatest wish is hearing her brother's voice again - since her wishes of seeing his eyes and giving him a hug have already been granted.

It wouldn't kill me if I got a third," she said.

Fallon said the progress her brother has made would have been impossible without the overwhelming" support from the community.

A GoFundMe was created for the family to help support their stay in Hamilton. As of Wednesday, they'd raised more than $17,400 of their $25,000 goal.

While visiting Jacobs and caring for him, Fallon said the nurses told her that survivors of severe head injuries always do better" with family support.

The community is the reason we've been able to support Logan," said Fallon. It really helps him recover."

And even now, Fallon still wonders how her brother survived the crash and keeps blowing everyone away." Earlier this month, she took a trip to the wrecking yard and saw Jacobs' car.

That whole experience really humbled us," she said. We're so thankful for everything he does."

Fallon Hewitt is a Hamilton-based reporter at The Spectator. Reach her via email: fhewitt@thespec.com