Photo: KITV // YouTube
Dakota Briley has been fighting for his life, ever since a devastating car accident on Oahu’s North Shore. All the while, his family has remained hopeful, though, and that hope has been rewarded with major steps on Dakota’s long road to recovery.
On August 15, Shawn Briley wrote an update on Dakota’s GoFundMe page that Dakota had begun to speak, and been cleared to eat solid foods. “He’s been able in the last week to go from whispering to to speaking and utilizing his voice and his vocal chords so he’s able to speak in short sentences,” Briley told KITV. “It’s been a really, really, really big, big deal. Big breakthrough in his recovery.”
The initial incident occurred on June 14 by the side of Kamehameha Highway, near the surf break Chun’s. Briley, 20, was loading boards into a car, when an 18-year-old driver veered into the shoulder, struck a traffic sign and then him. Dakota was pinned between two vehicles and endured multiple fractures in his legs, pelvis, ribs, and skull. He has also received extensive spinal injuries.
Dakota and his family have been at Craig Hospital in Denver since the beginning of August.”His healing and progress has exponentially sped up since we arrived at Craig,” wrote Shawn in the update. Later, he added that “I’m pretty sure we will be here in Colorado through Christmas and New Years, so we are definitely here for the long term, which is absolutely the best thing for Dakota’s Healing!”
As KITV reports, Dakota is scheduled to have another major surgery next week.
“He obviously had some really difficult questions for me, and his overall attitude has been extremely positive,” Shawn added. “It’s been really amazing and overwhelming for my family to see his resolve and the strength of his heart and the spirit. It’s just incredible.”
