Demetrius Randle grips parallel bars and gingerly raises himself up from a wheelchair.

He can't do it alone — not yet — but with the aid of a physical therapist who braces his sides, Randle is standing.

Vino Wong/AJC (ENLARGE)

Demetrius Randle slowly makes his way in his wheelchair by using his feet as physical therapist Vicki Omen keeps a watchful eye at North Fulton Regional Hospital in Roswell.

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"This is a big improvement," Vicki Omen, his physical therapist, assures him.

This is rehabilitation. A world where sitting up by yourself is a major accomplishment, where a few shuffling baby steps are celebrated like a record-breaking sprint. It's the world that Randle and his surviving family members now inhabit. Less than three months ago, Randle and his family were involved in the deadliest crash to occur on I-85 in Northeast Georgia in more than 15 years.

The family was riding in the back of a limousine, heading from the airport to their house in Lawrenceville, when they were caught up in a five-car collision that killed four people. Randle's 14-year-old son Alex and 21-year-old daughter Whitney died, along with Whitney's infant son, Kayden.

Also killed in the collision was the limo driver, Mark Gay, 44, of Lawrenceville.

Carmon Cody Rhoden, a 20-year-old mechanic from Gainesville, is being held at the Gwinnett jail without bond on multiple charges. Police say he caused the wreck by speeding and weaving in and out of traffic at high speeds.

Demetrius Randle's brain injury was so severe that doctors didn't expect him to survive, according to his wife, Falleen Randle, who suffered scrapes and bruises in the wreck. He sustained damage to the frontal lobe of the brain, which affected his short-term memory, communication and coordination.

As a result he can't talk or walk, and is only now learning to sit and stand.

"He's doing remarkable for not thinking he was going to be alive for more than eight hours," said Falleen Randle.

The tragedy has united far-flung family members. The couple's 24-year-old son, Chris, came home from Miles College in Birmingham, Ala., for the summer to help. Falleen Randle's brother, Jeremy Bender, is on an extended visit from Salt Lake City, Utah, and planning to relocate to Atlanta. Demetrius' brother, Gary Randle, never returned to his hometown of Sacramento, Calif., after the funeral.

Together, they make the hour-long trek from Lawrenceville to North Fulton Regional Hospital in Roswell every day to visit Randle. They say he has improved greatly since he was transferred there from Gwinnett Medical Center May 15.

"He has all his personality," said Chris Randle. "He's just trying to get his body to work with him."

Randle can shrug and nod his head. He is regaining the ability to write on a notepad. He even laughs occasionally. His family teasingly refers to him as Superman, or the "man of steel," because he suffered no broken bones despite being ejected from the limousine.

The atmosphere in the room was mostly playful Friday. Falleen flirted and fussed over her husband while the men joked to rouse his spirits. Yet the room grew quiet when they showed him a family photo taken last December.

Demetrius' unsteady finger pointed again and again to Whitney, Alex and Kayden. His eyes asked the questions his mouth could not form. He has not seen the three of them since the wreck.

Afraid to stunt his progress, the family hasn't told him about what happened. They hope he can come home soon to continue his recovery and that he'll someday become self-sufficient.

But Falleen Randle can see it in his eyes — "he knows," she whispered softly behind him.