ESTERO, Fla. — An Estero mother is counting her blessings this holiday season after her 9-year-old son made what she calls a miraculous recovery from a devastating car crash involving a suspected drunk driver.
WATCH: Fox 4's Eric Lovelace spoke to the boy's mother:
In September, Sarah Engracia's husband and two sons were driving toward the intersection of South Tamiami Trail and Michael G. Rippe Parkway when they said they were hit head-on by a suspected drunk driver. Court records show the driver had a blood alcohol content of more than three times the legal limit.
All three family members were hurt in the crash, but 9-year-old Marco was the most severely hurt. He had to be airlifted to St. Petersburg for medical assistance, where doctors delivered devastating news to his mother.
Marco's mother, Sarah Engracia, said doctors told her that Marco had been "internally decapitated," meaning his skull had been separated from his spinal cord.
After two weeks in the ICU, surgery and months of recovery, Marco is now running around again. His mother said it's nothing short of a Christmas miracle.
"That alone was my Christmas present right there. I didn't need anything else in life but to know that my children were safe and healthy at that point," Engracia said.
Marco's mother says he has another year or so of recovery until he's completely back to normal. The family lost its work car in the crash, but they still consider themselves lucky this holiday season.
The family started a GoFundMe to help raise money to replace the work truck and for medical expenses, the link can be found here.
