LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It was a celebration that a Kentucky family wasn't sure would ever come.

Months after a serious car crash, 17-year-old Ethan Bowling walked out of Frazier Rehab Wednesday and headed home to Breathitt County.

It's something doctors said he would never do, but step by step, Ethan Bowling is defying the odds.

"I told every doctor I ever met. .. I'm like, you do not understand my son," said Ethan's mother, Elizabeth Little.

The 17-year-old in May suffered a severe traumatic brain injury from a serious car crash.

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Ethan Bowling walked out of Frazier Rehab on Aug. 7, 2024. (WDRB photo)

"We were told at UK that Ethan possibly never would be able to breathe on his own," Little said.

But Wednesday, he walked out of Frazier Rehab to head back home to eastern Kentucky.

"One of his doctors from UK, from the trauma team, came and saw him yesterday and she started crying," Little said. "She was blown away. She was like 'your mom and dad told me you was going to walk and all the books said you would never walk, you would never talk.'"

Ethan can tell you about the hardest part of his recovery journey himself.

"Getting my voice back," Bowling said.

And he didn't hesitate to share where he found the strength to overcome.

"From the good Lord and Jesus and from my parents," Bowling said.

For the last few weeks, Ethan spent several hours a day working with a team at Frazier Rehab with a goal to get home.

"He was never one to ask for breaks," physical therapist Mackenzie Ferree said. "He was always one to keep being pushed."

And now, as his story ends at Frazier Rehab, Ethan will push on to a new chapter of his recovery.

"With Ethan's attitude and positive outlook on life, I think he will be successful once he goes home," Ferree said.

"Today he wants to eat a steak fajita," Little said. "That's all he talked about this morning, a steak fajita and a Baja blast."

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