Chesterfield bus crash victim on road to recovery

CHESTERFIELD, N.J. - May 4, 2012

Jonathan remembers some details from the morning of Feb. 16. He was riding in the back of his school bus when it collided with a dump truck.

24 students were on board and 6th grader Isabelle Tezsla - a triplet - did not survive.

"I can't imagine the loss, unbelievable, I can't imagine what they're going through still- today, it's very difficult," said Kristopher Zdybel.

The Zdybels say the support they got from the community kept them hopeful.

Jonathan was diagnosed with a traumatic brain injury. He was on a ventilator for three weeks then spent another six weeks in the hospital.

He finally went home two weeks ago. "I got to go home and play with my dog and on Saturday eat cereal and stuff like that," said Jonathan.

It's something his family is definitely thankful for.

"Just to be able to sleep in our beds and have him home - the four of us in the family room, just amazing wow," said Zdybel's mother Halina.

On Friday, while back for out-patient therapy at Nemours Dupont Hospital, the construction crew, working on an expansion project asked Jonathan to help them blast rock with a mock detonator.

The Zdybel family thanked all the doctors, nurses and staff who have helped Jonathan during this journey.

His mom says the future is still uncertain for Jonathan but they're grateful he's here and getting better every day.

Jonathan is also optimistic he'll reach his goal.

"Be able to walk by myself I guess, that's my main goal," he said.

We wish him all the best.

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