Teen Recovering From Traumatic Brain Injury Unfurls "Bear Down" Flag On Soldier Field Before Game
(CBS) -- He went from a coma to Soldier Field in six months. WBBM's Nancy Harty reports on a young man who got to participate in Sunday's Bear's pregame festivities.
Dylan Rhodes was in a medically induced coma for a month and a half after a May car crash. The East Chicago, Ind. 17-year-old was riding in the back seat of a friend's car in a seatbelt when he sustained a traumatic brain injury that left him hospitalized for 65 days.
"Last thing I would remember would be stopping at the gas station beforehand before we left," he said.
Rhodes had to re-learn how to do everything: how to walk, talk and even eat. He spent several months going through physical therapy. Rhodes is still working on his speech but he's proud to say he left Advocate Children's Hospital in Oak Lawn with out a wheel chair or medication.
When the hospital invited him to hold the Bears' flag on the field before kick off, he said yes, even though he's a Buccaneers fan.
Despite Tampa Bay's loss, Rhodes says it was pretty exciting to be there.