Brain-damaged crash survivor from Lawrenceville mending

Sometimes a fresh start begins with a few deep breaths. Demetrius Randle — a 45-year-old Lawrenceville man who suffered brain damage last spring in a wreck that killed his daughter, son and grandson — has taken a lot of deep breaths lately.

He and his wife, Falleen, moved to Malibu, Calif., renting a house there in October so he could undergo a series of treatments in a hyperbaric oxygen chamber at Malibu Hyperbaric Medical Center.

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Falleen Randle

Demetrius Randle, injured in a crash that killed his son, daughter and grandson, is treated in an oxygen chamber.

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Such treatments were once reserved for deep-sea divers recovering from the bends, or decompression sickness, but now they are also used to stimulate healing of brain injuries and other ailments by saturating the body with oxygen.

The Randles decided to move to California because they couldn’t find a medical facility in Georgia that offers the treatments, Falleen Randle said, noting that the results have been “amazing.”

“I just see a huge difference in him. He will carry on a conversation, and his speech is clearer and his ability to want to take part in the conversation is so much higher than it was,” she said.

Demetrius Randle is still using a wheelchair, but he can crawl and walk with assistance. His goal is to walk again on his own.

Leaving Lawrenceville and a home filled with memories has been bittersweet for the Randles, who have one surviving son attending college in Alabama. Chris Randle was not riding in the limousine with the rest of the family on March 31, 2008, when the limo was struck by speeding driver, touching off a five-car collision on I-85.

The Randles’ 14-year-old son, Alex, and 21-year-old daughter, Whitney, died, along with Whitney’s infant son, Kayden. Also killed in the wreck was the limo driver, Mark Gay, 44.

“We thought it would be best for our whole family to change the scenery,” Falleen said. “It was hard coming home to that same house, to drive on that highway and to be around where our daughter lived and where all of them had gone to school. All of that was a constant reminder, and it was really difficult.”

Falleen said the family will still try to attend future court hearings for Carmon Cody Rhoden, 20, the driver charged with vehicular homicide for allegedly causing the accident. A trial date for him has not been scheduled.