It was six in the morning and they were returning home from a family reunion in Outer Banks, N. C. Hindu music was playing softly in the front of the minivan as 17-year-old Murtaza Amir drove down U.S. Highway 64, headed toward home.

His mother, Shabana, was sitting behind him, looking through the window, gazing at the beautiful sunrise. His little sister, Rukhaiya, was dreaming right by her mother’s side. And their father, Ali Abrar, slept next to Murtaza in the passenger seat.

Little did they know on July 1, 2006, after those last few moments of serenity, that each one of their lives would drastically change, forever.

The left rear tire on their Ford minivan burst and sent the van swerving into the guardrail on the side of the highway. Both doors on the right side of the van were ripped away on impact.

The van swerved back into the middle of the highway and that’s when the father of two was thrown from the comfort of his dreams, onto the pavement.

Following the second swerve, Rukhaiya’s seat slid forward and her father’s seat slid backwards, crushing her between the two. She remembers nothing after that.

Murtaza and his mother somehow managed to remain seated throughout the accident. When the van came to a complete stop, Murtaza jumped out and ran to his father, who was lying between the two center lanes of the highway, and dragged him to safety.

“My first concern was to check that everyone was okay,” Murtaza, now a senior, said.

A semi-truck stopped at the scene of the accident and the driver used Murtaza’s phone to dial 911. Only minutes after the emergency call was placed, two helicopters arrived for Rukhaiya and her father.

Ali Abrar was airlifted to Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. Unfortunately, when he was thrown from the van, one of his vertebra broke and tore his spinal chord. He now only has movement from his arms up, with limited motor skills, and is confined to a motorized wheel chair. He spent three months in the Intensive Care Unit at Barnes Jewish and was placed on a ventilator to help with his breathing.

Rukhaiya was taken to St. Louis Children’s Hospital where she was treated for seven broken bones and underwent complete facial reconstructive surgery. That’s where her memories start again, in a small hospital bed, oblivious as to why she was there.

“I woke up and had no idea where I was or how I had gotten there,” Rukhaiya, now a sophomore, said.

Now, 15 months after the crash, the Amir family is stronger than ever. They are always with each other, not because they have to be, but because they want to be.

Three days after the accident occurred, Murtaza’s grandmother, whom they call Nani-jaan, flew all the way from Aurangabad, India to be with her family.

“Our family has always been close, but it’s even more so now,” Murtaza said. “The rest of our family even calls each other now.”

When Murtaza and his sister return home from school in the evening, Murtaza takes over his mother and grandmother’s duties. He has to be by his father’s side for most of the day to help him in almost every aspect of life, from eating soup, to going to the bathroom, to getting out of bed and into his wheelchair.

Life hasn’t been easy for Murtaza since the accident. He hasn’t been able to do as much as he would like with his friends, and he says he is always on a time crunch.

“[My friends] understand that I can’t do stuff,” Murtaza said. “I used to be able to hang out with them whenever I wanted, but I know I have to be there for my dad. I care about my dad so much more now. I have always cared about him, but now I care about every little thing he does.”

Because his sister, Rukhaiya, is usually on crutches and has a brace on her right leg, Murtaza also has to help her whenever she can’t do something on her own.

Murtaza says he has become a more mature, responsible person. Rukhaiya says she has also changed. She says she understands why it all happened. Maybe even the best out of her family.

“I understand the importance of time,” Rukhaiya said. “It’s means so much. I’ve been so impatient in the past. I can’t take life for granted.”