Almost four months ago, an accident in Centerville claimed two lives and left three other teens critically injured.Although 15-year-old Lauren Rippley still bears the scars from the terrible wreck...she was released Tuesday from a Dallas rehab facility.

In the accident, 23-year-old Stephanie Fowler and her boyfriend, 19-year-old Karl Rippley were killed off of I-45 when their vehicle swerved off the road and hit a tree. Rippley's sisters, Lauren and Alex and another friend, 19-year-old Scotty Johnson were all hospitalized with critical injuries.

While the small community was left in shock, the injured teens were fighting to stay alive.

When you talk to Lauren, she's like any other teenage girl, she laughs, talks and wants to be around her friends, but unlike any of her friends, she's in a wheelchair.

The same accident that robbed her of her older brother Karl, also took her ability to walk and following months of therapy, for the first in a very long time she's around familiar people and is able to talk about her injuries.

"I had to go to speech because I banged up my head. I completely broke my neck, so I have metal plates in the front and the back. I severed my spine in C3, C6, and C7 and i broke this leg and my ankle and my foot," says Lauren Rippley.

While those are major injuries, Lauren has remained positive during her recovery and has had one goal...to be able to go home because there was a lot she knew she was missing there.

Rippley says, "First, all my friends...I missed them a bunch. Second, my family and third, Dairy Queen. I have missed Dairy Queen so much because there wasn't one around us and I really wanted a blizzard."

While that's the teenager in Lauren coming out, she knows she still has a lot of therapy before her and getting her daughter better is constantly on Brenda Rippley's mind.

Lauren's mother Brenda Rippley says, "Our goal is to get where she has control from her waist up so she can maneuver around and actually sit in a dinner chair. They're saying that with continued therapy there's a possibility that the level of damage will drop one level so there's a possibility that she could get the use of her fingers back, which would be a blessing."

Another blessing is that Lauren's younger sister who was also in the truck that May day, has almost fully recovered from her injuries and now focuses on helping Lauren, but no one has forgotten about Karl.

Alex Rippley says, "we were really close and we had a lot of fun."

For Brenda, while she's lost one child, she still has her girls and though she hasn't had time to grieve for her son she has found peace.

"Karl's and I relationship was very special...the last words I told Karl was I love you as he was walking out the door...he shut it and I said I love you, he opened the door back up and said I love you Mom and we did that about five times before he left for school that day...so I don't have that regret, it takes a load off your heart to know the last thing you told your son was that you love him," says Brenda Rippley.

The Rippley family says losing Karl has left a permanent void in their lives, but they're fortunate to live in a community that cares for and supports them.

In fact it was the Leon County community that helped raise enough money to buy Lauren a special van which will enable her to get to school and all the important school functions with her friends.