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WINSTON-SALEM - Drew Gardner doesn't remember any of the pain. He doesn't remember going to the park on Nov. 11 or the crash that broke his leg, collarbone, ribs and skull.

All he remembers is the love that has surrounded him since he awoke a few days ago in the hospital. And the boredom.

"I wish I could walk around, move," said Drew, 12 . "I just sit here."

Exhausted from a meeting with an occupational therapist on Friday afternoon, Drew worked to get the last of his Smarties candy out of its cellophane wrapper. Successful, he cheered. He lifted both hands as high as his ears with a triumphant, "Yay!"

The word was so soft, it could barely be heard above the fan blowing fresh air through his room. His mother, Megan Gardner , often had to put her ear next to his mouth to hear him speak. Drew paused in the middle of long sentences to take a breath.

Gardner, a nurse, is amazed that her son came through the crash without more injuries. "He's my miracle," she said.

The boy dwarfed by his hospital bed might not look like a miracle, until you think about where he was 11 days ago - lying broken in a creek in Lindley Park after being struck by a van that ran off South Lindell Road and crashed.

Gardner gives credit to her son, his strength and resilience. And to the prayers of the thousands of people pulling for Drew, after an accident no one was sure he would survive.

"I can only attribute it to all the prayers," Gardner said. "It shouldn't have been this quick."

On Friday, Drew moved into a regular hospital room at Brenner Children's Hospital . He got visits from relatives. He ate pizza. But mostly, he slept.

The accident happened on Nov. 11, a school holiday. Drew and his friend Taylor Rhynehardt were playing in Lindley Park, a regular pastime for the active, outdoors-loving boys.

According to police, a van drove through the stop sign at Walker Avenue and South Lindell Road about 2:40 p.m. The van went straight off the road as the road curved to the right. The van hit Drew, crushing the right side of his body.

Fallen trees injured Taylor, who ran up to the road to find help for his friend. Taylor then stayed with Drew while police and emergency workers arrived.

Michael Parks , the van's driver, has been charged with driving while impaired and aggravated felony injury by motor vehicle in connection with the accident. Parks, 40 , was not taken into custody after being admitted to the hospital following the accident, and has eluded police since felony charges were issued Nov. 14 .

Since that first day - when Megan Gardner was terrified to meet a police officer, a chaplain and a social worker in the hospital lobby after the accident - Drew's condition has steadily improved. If his rapid progress continues, doctors anticipate sending Drew home just after Thanksgiving, Gardner said.

"For what he went through," Gardner said. "There haven't been many really scary times."

Contact Sonja Elmquist at 373-7090 or sonja.elmquist@news-record.com