A young man got a car for his 16th birthday. On the way to visit some friends that night, he was hit broadside. The diagnosis: A massive blow to the head, as well as spleen and kidney injuries and several pelvic fractures.

The accident victim was sent to a small hospital near his home, about four hours east of Memphis. However, that facility didn't have the equipment or resources to treat such a critically-injured person, so he was transported by chopper to "Memphis Med" (Elvis Presley Memorial Trauma Center).

He required emergency surgery to remove his spleen when he arrived, a procedure made all the more traumatic since it had to be performed before his parents could get there.

Today he's recovering from his injuries, and is home … walking, talking and doing very well.

Except for some short-term memory problems, he says, "You can't tell anything was ever wrong."