Ethan was taken to Spectrum Health Butterworth, where he was in a coma for three weeks.
"We had worldwide prayer," Hap said, listing friends in Germany, Russia and Japan. One of Ethan's parents or his four siblings was with him at all times.
VandenBerg said a CAT scan showed bleeding inside Ethan's skull.
Even when Ethan began to regain consciousness, he had little motor control.
"I couldn't sit up on my own," Ethan said, pointing to a photo of himself staring blankly and strapped limply in a wheelchair.
He was transferred to Mary Free Bed Hospital in mid-September 2000, and by Oct. 25, two months after his accident, was able to walk out of the hospital. He continued outpatient therapy for two more months. In February, six months after the accident, he still had some speech and motor difficulties but took a job as a telemarketer, selling home improvements for Pacesetter Corp.
"I learned a lot from that job," Ethan said. "It helped me to not be afraid of rejection. When you call people and 99 percent slam the phone down, you can't take rejection personally."
In September, 13 months after the accident, Dozeman went to Craig's Cruisers in Wyoming to buy tickets for an overnight party with his 15-year-old brother, Nathaniel. Kendra Start waited on him.
"She said the six words that changed my life forever," Ethan recalled: "Don't you go to First Assembly?"
Although they had never met, both attended First Assembly of God Church in Wyoming. They began dating.
"I just swept her off her feet," Ethan said.
"Yes, he definitely did that," Start said later Tuesday evening as the couple cuddled on a couch at Cygnus lounge at the top of the Amway Grand Plaza Hotel. "He does the most romantic things, and he actually likes it."
Start, who plays piano and sings at weddings, now works as an office manager at Star Truck Rentals in Wyoming. Dozeman recently passed his Realtor exam and works at Platinum Realty in Grandville.
He still has some minor motor control problems, as well as some concentration difficulties as a result of the accident. But Dozeman sees many positive differences.
"I'm way more persistent, way more outgoing, way more happy."
Although Start didn't know Dozeman before the accident, she agrees.
"I love his zest for life, and that's what (the accident) gave him."
Comments(3)