AUSTIN -- A remarkable recovery from a crash that shouldn't have happened. Four Bowie High School students suffered serious injuries when they were hit by another car at 70 miles an hour along Slaughter and MoPac this summer. They've spent months recovering and now one of them is celebrating a major milestone.
In the book of life, dreams don't always go as planned.
These four friends know that better than most.
Rachael Crawford, Madison Brandes, Ashley Rogans and Julia Cavanagh have celebrated so many milestones together. But Rachael is embarking on this next journey alone.
"I'm ready to leave for college," said Crawford.
She's starting her freshman year at Oklahoma University. Her friends want to make sure it goes just as planned because this journey should have been one three of the girls took together last summer.
"It's exciting because I get to start what I was supposed to be doing in August, but at the same time I want Madison to be starting with me," said Crawford.
In June a drunk driver -- more than three times the legal limit -- plowed into them, wrecking more than just their plans.
"There was glass everywhere," said Cavanagh. "People were like, 'There's gas! You need to get out of the car.' We tried to open all the doors and they were pinned shut and then someone pulled us out through the back windshield."
All four suffered serious injuries. It's been a painstaking seven months. Crawford had numerous broken bones and had to learn how to walk again. Brandes suffered the most serious injuries. Her brain injury was so severe, doctors feared she wouldn't survive. She has spent months learning how to talk and read.
"I still go to speech therapy five times a week," said Brandes.
"It's been really hard watching them struggling through everything, getting to be where they're supposed to be," said Cavanagh. "It's just unfair to see it all happen first hand. It's just been hard to watch."
Their pain doesn't go away. For Rogans it's her neck.
"Sometimes it's fine. Other times I wake up and I'm so nauseous. It hurts so badly," said Rogans.
Crawford still struggles with her legs.
"I still have pain in my leg when I walk around for a long time mostly when I'm standing for a long time it feels like my leg is blowing up like a balloon and I just have to sit down," said Crawford.
As for the emotional scars, Cavanagh said, "We're never going to forget about it."
So after spending the summer learning things they never dreamed they'd have to learn all over again.
2015 is a fresh start, for at least one of them.
Crawford arrived at the University of Oklahoma Jan. 8. She moved into her dorm room and is ready to start her freshman year, six months later than planned.
These girls continue to defy the odds in hopes of proving that a dream delayed, is not a dream denied.
Brandes continues her recovery and hopes to start college next fall -- a year later than planned. Cavanagh graduates from Bowie High School this spring and plans to room with Brandes in the fall at Texas Tech.
Erik Oosterbaan is charged with three counts of aggravated assault and three counts of intoxication assault. He remains in jail. No trial date has been set.
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