BUFFALO - Eating dinner as a family used to be incredibly important to Becky Martinez. But that all has changed.

Now, Martinez no longer calls her 10-year-old son, Angel Reyes, when dinner is ready. She tries to cook odorless food so he isn't tempted by delicious smells emitting from the kitchen. When Angel flips through the TV channels, she makes sure he doesn't spend too much time watching the Food Network.

With his feeding tube attached, those things are just like torture to her son, she said.

Though she longs for those normal days - days when her family ate together at the table or when her son, who wants to be chef when he grows up, could run into the kitchen for a quick snack - Martinez said she is incredibly happy that her son is still alive and that he is home.

Martinez can pinpoint the day "normal life" changed. At about 5 p.m. on Aug. 12, Angel was riding his bike home from a friend's house. According to the police investigation, Angel crossed the street in the crosswalk against the "do not walk" signal and was struck by a car. Though he usually wore his helmet, this time he did not have it on.

Martinez was at home waiting for Angel, and when she realized he was running quite a bit late, she jumped in her car to find him. As she approached an intersection, she saw police cars and people gathered. Then she saw a bike and a backpack and instantly recognized them as her son's belongings.

"All they could tell me is that he was in critical condition and I needed to get to the hospital," Martinez said.

There she found her son connected to plastic tubes and beeping machines. He was unconscious and unresponsive to her voice or touch. Suffering from a traumatic brain injury, but no broken bones, Angel was taken by air ambulance to Wyoming Medical Center in Casper. There, Angel remained unconscious and in intensive care for weeks.

"He sometimes would open his eyes but had just a blank stare," Martinez said. "He wasn't responsive to verbal commands like, 'Give me a thumbs-up.'"

After talking to his doctors, Martinez said, it was unclear if her son would make a full recovery.

"No one would give us a definite answer," she said. "They would just say every brain injury is different. Everybody responds differently."

'Like a different kid'

Almost a month later, Angel was transferred by ambulance to the Children's Hospital in Denver. That's when Angel began to make progress, giving doctors the peace sign or thumbs up when requested.

"On the second or third day, he responded to verbal commands," Martinez said. "He was like a different kid there."

And he continued to improve. On Oct. 27, Angel was released from the hospital. Once home, he excitedly played with his toys and watched his favorite cartoons.

"His long-term memory has been excellent," Martinez said. "It's more his short-term memory that seems affected."

Though he has made incredible progress over the past few months, his recovery is far from over. Weekly, Angel attends physical, occupational and speech therapy sessions. He tires easily from therapy, and he has to return often to Denver for doctor appointments.

He still carries an oxygen tank because of breathing problems, but Martinez said they are working on weaning him from the oxygen tank.

Then there's the feeding tube. Angel said he misses the food his mom cooks. And this year, he'll miss Thanksgiving dinner.

Martinez said though Angel told her he could "handle it," she thinks it's unfair for him to attend Thanksgiving dinner at her family's home in Casper.

"I think it's too hard on him to not be able to eat," she said.

Angel will work on swallowing in therapy, and they are hopeful that he will be able to eat real food soon.

"I tell him he's eating better than all of us right now," she said, as Angel grinned at her.

But Angel said he "just feels hungry" for food sometimes. Both are excited for the day when Angel can help cook dinner and they can share a family meal once again.

Back to school

In December, Angel will start to ease his way into fifth grade, attending classes three days a week for two hours at a time. He's a little nervous to go back to school, Martinez said.

"He looks like the same Angel, but he doesn't perform like the same Angel," she said. "Even at the hospital, some people ask what's wrong with him. Obviously, most 10-year-olds don't have oxygen, but it's hard on him."

The accident has also been hard financially on the family. The woman who hit Angel did not have a driver's license or insurance. Though they've accepted the incident as an accident, Martinez said times are tough for them, and they have to rely on her boyfriend, Tyler Mickelson, to pay the bills.

"I can no longer work because of his appointments and the care he needs," Martinez said. "We can't splurge anymore. We're penny pinchers."

With hope of becoming a nurse, Martinez had been working at both Sheridan Memorial Hospital in Sheridan and the nursing home in Buffalo. If it hadn't been for the accident, she'd also be well into nursing classes at Casper College.

"I got accepted into the nursing program a week after the accident," Martinez said.

Though she turned down the position, she hopes that she'll someday be able to complete those plans.

"This has taught me to make plans, but there are going to be bumps in the road," she said.

'I'm hopeful'

Though there won't be turkey and stuffing on their table this Thanksgiving, Martinez said she is extremely thankful to still have Angel. Through the experience, Martinez said, she has learned not to sweat the small stuff and not to take things for granted.

She has also learned how generous people can be in times of need. After Angel's accident, employees at Sheridan Memorial Hospital donated their vacation time to Martinez so she'd have some paid leave. And in Buffalo, Angel's teacher and classmates held a fundraiser for him shortly after the accident.

"It's because of Angel that they've helped us," she said. "Everybody's been great here in this community."

And she has learned to keep hope. Next Thanksgiving she hopes that Angel will be filling a plate full of his favorite foods.

"No one really says he'll be back to the kid he used to be," she said. "But I'm hopeful."