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Exclusive: Philadelphia Teen Battles Back After Being Injured By Suspected Drunk Driver


By Jericka Duncan

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Walking is something 14-year-old Taj Bland of Overbrook, doesn't take for granted.

"I had two broken legs," said Bland. "I had a concussion."

"I was pumping on his chest and telling him you can't leave me and he wasn't conscious at all," said Bland's father Charles. "I thought the worst. I thought my son was gone."

Charles Bland says he watched a Ford pickup slam into his son Taj, on September 25th 2012.

Chopper 3 HD captured the aftermath near 61st and Columbia Avenue in Overbrook.

34-year-old Stephen Roe Jr. of Drexel Hill was charged with driving under the influence among other things.

Taj says right before the crash, he was getting his football equipment out of the family van.

"I had to pull him from underneath the truck," said his father.

You can still see the scar on the side of his head and the marks from the two screws in his left leg.

In the beginning, Taj says he wasn't sure if he would ever walk, but now, not only is he walking again, he's running.

In fact, this past weekend he participated in his first track meet since the accident. He ran the 400 and the 1500.

He didn't win, but he says the important thing is that he finished.

"From what I saw and him being able to recover and walk again, is unbelievable," said Charles Bland.

His father is grateful but concerned that Stephen Roe Jr., the man charged with hitting his son, may hurt someone again.

According to the District Attorney's office he has a total of three pending DUI cases. It's unclear if his license is currently suspended.

"It's one of those things, like, why is this guy even driving?" asked, Bland.

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