Ben and Mandy Babb of Preston were still at the scene of a nine-vehicle crash near Cove, Utah, on the afternoon of May 13, shaken but alive, when they made a discovery that stopped them cold.

The car just up the road — the one that was severely damaged — belonged to their son Joshua.

"We didn't realize it was his car at first, until we noticed the tire rims and the sticker on the passenger door," Ben Babb said. "We had to wait and watch as the fire department got there and got Joshua extracted out of the car with the tools."

The wreck that nearly killed Joshua occurred near the Idaho-Utah border during a dust storm that dramatically reduced visibility. That Joshua survived at all, his family says, was nothing short of a miracle.

Joshua Babb, a Preston resident who works at the Pepperidge Farm plant in Richmond, Utah, sustained life-threatening injuries in the crash — a fractured L2 vertebra, two broken ankles, two brain bleeds, a severe concussion and a fractured sternum and nose. He was transported to McKay Dee Hospital in Ogden, Utah, where he remains.

His parents, speaking from the hospital Wednesday, said things are improving — slowly but meaningfully.

Joshua underwent successful ankle surgery Tuesday. His eyes are opening more. His voice is getting stronger. The confusion that followed his brain injuries is beginning to lift.

"He's getting better," Ben Babb said. "Every day he's showing us something new that he can do."

Joshua's cognitive recovery will take more time. Neither brain bleed has worsened, and doctors have told the family he should be able to fully recover from his cognitive injuries. But Mandy Babb knows it won't happen overnight.

"Your brain has a bunch of bookshelves in it, and in his bookshelf, his books have kind of fallen and he's got to be able to put them back into their space," she said. "It's just going to take some time to do that."

Through it all, the Babbs say they believe something more than medicine has been at work.

"Miraculous and divine intervention," Ben Babb said.

Mandy Babb, who lost a daughter in 1996, believes her child has been watching over her brother.

"I have no doubt that she was holding him through all of that," Mandy Babb said. "It was definitely a divine intervention, and we should expect miracles."

Joshua's Pepperidge Farm coworkers have rallied around the family. What started as a quiet request from Ben Babb to let a few colleagues know how to help quickly grew into something far larger.

"I was just thinking a few people he worked with, wasn't thinking much of it, but the comments and stuff that people have been giving him as they donate has been tremendous," Ben Babb said.

"He's very well-loved and very well-liked," Mandy added.

Those wishing to contribute to the family's medical expenses can Venmo Ben Babb at Ben-Babb-2.

According to Utah Highway Patrol Trooper Takesha Durrant, Joshua and six others were injured in the crash, with Joshua's injuries believed to be the most severe. No fatalities have been reported.

No condition updates on the other six injured people have been released.