Boy waking up from 11-day coma made a sign to his mom that left her in tears

When 13-year-old Dakota "Cody" Trenkle Jr. finally opened his eyes after 11 days in a medically induced coma, the first thing he did was to lift his hand and sign a heartfelt message to his mom, Stephanie Neely. It was the moment she knew her son was truly coming back to her after a harrowing ordeal that began when Cody disappeared from Goose Creek Lake, Missouri, on Sunday, July 27. He had last been seen skateboarding, Neely, never believed he had run away. She was just leaving work when she got the call. Search efforts began immediately, with Cody’s aunt — a volunteer firefighter — helping to organize crews through the dense woods of St. Francois County.

Three days later, Cody’s brother found his skateboard half a mile from home. That discovery brought in the Farmington Correctional Center’s K-9 unit. Their bloodhound, Darrell, located Cody within 20 minutes, leading searchers to the bottom of a 240-foot ravine. Cody was lying in a foot of water, conscious but gravely injured. According to the sheriff, he had "probably mere hours left to survive." He was very pale, covered in lacerations, and had sustained multiple brain bleeds, a skull fracture, severe back wounds, weakened kidneys, and pneumonia from being submerged in contaminated water for so long.

He was airlifted to a St. Louis hospital, placed in a medically induced coma, and put on a ventilator. "It took 11 long days after being missing for 80 hours for me to have hope that Cody was going to be okay," Neely said. The next day, still unable to speak, Cody lifted his hand and signed "I love you" in American Sign Language, as per PEOPLE. "That was a pivotal moment for me that showed me, like, 'Okay, we're on the right path. We're doing okay. Like everything's going to be all right," Neely told NBC News.

On August 10, Cody was taken off the ventilator, and by the next day, he could eat again, and the first thing he asked for was a "16-ounce Coke from McDonald’s." Support has poured in since his rescue — fellow firefighters who searched for him signed a large poster for his room, and his siblings and nieces filled the walls with handmade cards. But the road ahead is challenging. As of August 13, Cody is off sedation but dealing with a lot of pain. He cannot walk due to injuries and muscle loss from the coma. Speaking for long periods is exhausting because of pneumonia, other infections, and his head trauma, a condition that studies show affects 32% to 82% of critically ill patients who endure extended ventilation.

"His brain injuries are still very prominent, and are being monitored very closely," Neely said. He will soon be moved to a pediatric hospital specializing in physical, occupational, and psychological therapy. The investigation into exactly how he fell remains ongoing. For Neely, every moment since his rescue has reinforced what she has always known about her son.

"He’s been a fighter since day one," she said, "He was born super preemie and fought for his life then, and now almost exactly 14 years later, he’s doing it again. His stubbornness is what saved his life. He wasn’t going to give up. And he’s like, 'I’m not just gonna lay here and die.' For him to finally come out of it two weeks after he went missing is huge. He’s still proving to everyone, ‘I’m fighting, I’m still here, I can survive.'"