As seniors Alexis Felix and Angel Silveyra spent the day with friends in Wichita on March 23, they never could have anticipated what would soon lead to months of worry and recovery. Felix and Silveyra, along with two other friends, were involved in a car accident that resulted in many physical and emotional scars.

The minor details now blend together due to a rush of adrenaline and fear, Felix and Silveyra said. They can only remember some key details.

“I was asleep during the accident,” Felix said. “The last thing I remember was when I woke up in the hospital, I tried to get up to go to the bathroom, but I didn’t know I couldn’t walk and I fell.”

After the accident, Felix was rushed to Wesley Hospital and immediately taken into surgery for a broken jaw. In addition, Felix suffered a brain injury that delayed his consciousness following surgery and left him in a coma for two weeks. The brain injury resulted in an additional medical procedure where three holes were drilled into his head through which blood was drained.

Silveyra was taken away in an ambulance, suffering from a concussion and bruised leg. As a result, Silveyra was unable to know Felix’s condition immediately. Silveyra said that he was devastated and worried for his friend, a feeling that he would continue to have for two weeks as Felix recovered and ultimately woke up from the coma.

“It [being informed of Felix’s condition] gave me good relief but at the same time he was still in critical condition so I wasn’t happy until I knew that he was out of the coma,” Silveyra said.

After Felix woke from the coma, he suffered from a deficiency in motor skills such as walking and speaking. He traveled to Madonna Rehabilitation Hospital in Omaha, Nebraska to undergo treatment to help him regain those skills. Felix demonstrated such high comprehension and compliance that a process that should have taken him nine months, took him three.

“I really tried to get out of it,” Felix said. “I wasn’t supposed to get out until December; I just made really good progress.”

Felix is now seven months out of recovery and working on finalizing credits for his junior year as well as beginning his senior year because he was unable to fulfill his required credits. To compensate, Felix spends time taking online classes on top of his senior course load. Although it requires Felix to work harder and spend more time on schoolwork, he shows contentment to being back at school.

“It’s additional work that I just do online at home,” Felix said. “It feels good, it’s just the same old.”

After the intense accident, word spread through the community fast. Many people reached out to them following the accident as they were worried about the boys’ conditions. Following his return to school, Felix still receives questions from classmates and teachers, however, the curiosity does not bother him.

“They just ask me about it a lot,” Felix said. “It doesn’t really faze me or anything.”

Felix and Silveyra have been friends since elementary school and going through the accident together has strengthened their relationship. Due to Silveyra’s speedy recovery, he was able to check in on Felix frequently and keep in contact with his family.

“I still love him,” Silveyra said. “Either way what happened to him I’m still gonna love him no matter what.”