FERRIDAY — Oct. 3, 2010, will be a day etched in 17-year-old Aaron Davis’ mind for a long time to come.

Davis, known by friends and family members as a very mechanical person, was changing a part in his Monte Carlo when tragedy struck.

“I had the jack under my car, and I guess it just gave out and the car came down on my head,” he said. “It was pretty quick and pretty fast.”

With the weight of a car resting on his head, Davis said the only thing he can really remember is his family trying to get the car off him.

“I remember hearing my family losing it when they were trying to get me out from under the car,” he said. “It was horrible.”

An ambulance was called and Davis spent the next month at three different hospitals throughout the state with skull fractures and nerve damage as he tried to gain enough strength to get out of bed.

“I just remember when I couldn’t even stand up or lift my head up off the pillow,” he said.

Due to the injury, Davis has not been able to attend his senior year of classes at Ferriday High School. Instead he has been participating in rehab at Promise Hospital in Vidalia.

“It has not been an easy three months,” he said. “It has been pretty tough, and I know I have made some more character having to deal with it.”

Davis’ mother Dorothea Davis said the progress her son has made through the rehab has been something spectacular to watch.

“When he would lift his head, he would scream out in pain,” she said. “He has made some tremendous progress, and we are hoping he can get back to school at the end of this month.”

Being away from school has not affected Davis’ education, though; he is still doing classwork at home making As and Bs just like he always has.

Davis is taking physics, advanced math and English IV in his senior year, and was also working at a hardware store in Ferriday before the accident.

“He loves that job,” Dorothea said. “When he was in the ICU coming down off of his medication he said he had to get up and go mix some paint at work.”

One thing Davis missed out on while he was recovering was a trip to Disney World with FHS classmates. He scored mastery in the American History portion of his Graduation Exit Exam, qualifying for the trip.

Davis traveled to Washington, D.C., the previous year for scoring mastery on the math portion of his GEE.

With recovery going well, Davis said he is ready to get back to school to finish up and graduate.

“I can’t wait,” he said. “I have a job lined up for me in the Air Force when I graduate.”

Davis said he had already enlisted to serve in the Air Force before the accident, and once he can start running and doing activities like push ups, the Air Force still has a spot open for him.

“May 26 I am going to San Antonio to start my training,” he said. “Because I scored so well on my ASVAB (a test given out by the military to determine whether or not a person is suitable for service and what job they may be good at while serving) I was able to choose my own job.”

Dorothea said he choose the position of heavy equipment operator, which didn’t surprise her.

“He has always loved taking things apart and putting them back together,” she said. “When he was a kid he used to lay under the coffee table and unscrew everything.”

Davis said thanks to the support of his friends and family, he has stayed motivated and ready to succeed at whatever life throws at him.

“I just want to get back in school, get my grades right, and catch up on my work,” he said. “I just want to enjoy the rest of my senior year.”