LAKE FOREST (CBSLA.com) — The son of an Orange County sheriff’s deputy spent Thanksgiving with his family more than a year after he was in a critical car accident.

Jimmy Pequeno, 19, suffered a traumatic brain injury in the July 2011 crash, which left him in a vegetative state.

His parents, Rob and Angela, have never left his side.

“Last year, we were in the hospital. We didn’t know how the rest of his life was going to be. We decided to bring him home. Our first Thanksgiving home is great,” said Rob.

Jimmy left the hospital in February, but his parents wanted him home after the insurance company planned to move him to a new facility that would prohibit overnight guests.

Lake Forest residents came to the rescue and raised money to build a handicapped-accessible bedroom for the 19-year-old.

Angela, with the help of a nurse, tends to her son around the clock.

She said she knows Jimmy will speak again.

“When I’m talking to him in the morning, and he looks at me, I know he’s there. He just can’t talk. He’s trying to find a way to talk to us,” said Angela.