WEST MONROE, La. — Every day is a struggle for Carla Brannon as she holds strong for her son Dustin Warren of West Monroe.

Dustin has been hospitalized since January of this year when life took a horrible turn for him resulting in a rare brain injury.

“An anoxic brain injury,” said Carla Brannon. “It’s when he was without oxygen for a long period of time and suffered major brain damage.”

Carla and the family took Dustin to a number of specialists hoping for the best, but his condition continued to get worse. At one point, Dustin was even pulled off of life-support and his family thought it may be the end.

As Easter weekend approached though, Dustin did something that he hasn’t been able to do all year — speak.

Now the family says Dustin is on the upswing but he still has a long way to go. The family is applauding medicine and faith, saying without both Dustin wouldn’t have this new beginning on Easter.