His 29th birthday isn't any birthday -- it's a milestone Josh Brazier almost didn't reach.

"They didn't think he would live to make it to the hospital. Then they said they didn't think he'd make it through the night," said Brazier's mother in-law Mary Brasfield.

Nearly one year ago Josh and his wife Christie were driving near 40th and Yankee Hill Road in Lincoln. A delivery truck crashed into them -- changing their lives forever.

"To go through the accident, where Josh, for a long time couldn't speak, and I thought, 'OK, I can't see,' so yeah, it puts a lot of stress on a marriage," said wife Christie Brazier.

The parents of three both experienced brain damage after the crash. Christie is now blind and Josh is in a wheelchair -- but they say the silver lining is they're both alive. Also, Josh started speaking again last September. "It is truly a blessing that we have come so far because truly, the accident could have left us in worse condition than we are," said Christie Brazier.

Since the accident Mary Brasfield has also adjusted, taking care of her grandchildren as well as her recovering daughter and son-in-law. "We're putting it all together. Two families into one. So yeah, we're becoming closer. And it has to be, we're still working on that," said Brasfield.

As he blows out the candles on his 29th birthday cake, Josh Brazier's surrounded by his family at home. And his continuing recovery -- is worth celebrating. "There's always a silver lining. Even though it's not the easiest to see sometimes, there's always a silver lining," said Christie Brazier.

Josh lives in an Omaha rehabilitation center right now. His physical therapists say he might be ready to move back home to Firth this June. But Josh's birthday wish is to move out of the center and back with his family by April 19th -- the anniversary of the crash that nearly killed him. His family thinks he can do it.