OMAHA, Neb. (KMTV) — When he was 3, Josh Goblowsky's life changed forever after a serious crash on I-80.
The car Josh was in was hit by two different semi-trucks in a hit-and-run, said his dad, Mark, of Bellevue.
The crash left him with a "massive" traumatic brain injury. He was left in a coma and spent 12 weeks in rehabilitation at CHI Health Immanuel.
But Josh has recovered well beyond what his dad thought possible. In 2022, he published two children's books inspired by his life. "Josh's World" was published in January 2022. In November came "Josh's Friends."
"The doctors never thought that he would live," Mark said. "Let alone recover in any way where he could do something even remotely similar to this."
Years after the Sunshine Foundation sent him to Disney World, the proceeds of Josh's books are given back to that organization. Funds from "Josh's World" are helping Vincent Duran, a boy with hypoxic ischemic cerebral palsy from Bennington, make the same trip to Disney World and the Sunshine Foundation's village there.
And Kate Sample, the foundation's president, says "Josh's Friends" will do the same for another child. The group "answers dreams" for children from limited-income families with severe and life-long conditions or trauma, including from abuse.
Sample met Josh in person for the first time on Friday at CHI Health Immanuel's Rehabilitation Institute. Saturday, they'll both be at a "Dream Come True" presentation for Duran.
Josh also met with people he worked with rehabilitating at the clinic on Friday.
"It's really great to see him walking on his own," said Lindsay Nichols, a physical therapist at the clinic. "We didn't know at the time if he would be in a wheelchair or what his mobility would look like."
Recreational therapist Jena Munson said the same. Josh turned four while at the clinic.
"It's quite amazing," she said. "Today he's 21, writing books, it's absolutely outstanding that he was able to progress and be able to do that."
Munson runs a sports camp for children with physical disabilities. Mark and Josh have donated their time to that every summer, she said.
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