HOUSTON – Jason Palma has been recovering from injuries since an accident in February.
The 12-year-old boy's mother spoke to Channel 2 about his amazing progress at a fundraiser for the boy.
Palmer's family said that he is in rehab -- walking, even talking some -- but it was a long road, taking almost two months to get here.
"He's doing a lot better, better than we expected and even the doctors, better than they anticipated," Julia Garnica, Jason Palma's mother said.
The fundraiser is for Jason, who was severely injured when he was allegedly holding onto the hood of a car, fell off, and was run over by the friend he was riding with.
Initially, boys told police the 12-year-old was hit by an unknown driver, but the truth came out with the surveillance footage. It showed the 19-year-old driver, Gustavo Diaz, allegedly not attempting to help Jason.
Jason was sitting on the hood and Gustavo took off so quickly that Jason thought he was kidding. Jason turned around and grabbed the hood and rode on the hood to a corner,where he fell off when Gustavo took a right.
Diaz faces charges and has a court appearance next month.
"I'm going to be there to make sure he doesn't get just a slap on the wrist because I didn't get a slap on the wrist," Garnica said.
Doctors weren't sure if Jason would survive, but now he's on the road to recovery, but it comes at a cost.
"We have two arteries they said, the one on the right was damaged, severed, so he's going to be on blood thinners stuff like that. For a child (that) is huge but we're lucky, I just count my blessings," Garnica said.
According to Garnica, Jason's hearing was permanently damaged in that accident. The money they raise will be for a hearing aid.