Jodie Nichols still vividly recalls her son crossing the stage this June to grasp his high school diploma.

Endless opportunities stretched ahead, she knew, with Brenden's glittering resume. He had nailed every AP class Coeur d'Alene High School had to offer, and had completed a marathon at 15. Accepted at Carroll College in Helena, Mont., he intended to become a neurosurgeon.

"I knew there were no limits for him," Jodie said.

Now, after sitting at her son's side for several harrowing days in St. Patrick Hospital in Missoula, Jodie is depending on Brenden's perseverance to clear an entirely different obstacle.

"You have to be (strong), when you have a child going through this," the Coeur d'Alene mother said firmly, talking over the phone from the hospital on Thursday.

Brenden, who turned 18 this August, is still lingering in a coma after a severe car accident last weekend. His parents, Jodie and Ken, are optimistic now that he has made it through the first wavering 72 hours, when doctors warned they couldn't be certain if he would ever wake up.

Now they are confident he will, though it could take several months.

After that, extensive rehabilitation awaits to address his broken neck, broken ribs, collapsed lung and severe brain trauma.

But Jodie has no doubt, Brenden will still achieve everything he had planned.

Becoming a surgeon. Finishing Ironman.

"I'm thinking, 'This is a kid who's going to do anything, regardless of what he has to get through,'" she said. "Because I have to."

Brenden had made the trip before, from Carroll College to Kooskia, where he had been driving late Saturday night to meet his father and 16-year-old brother for a hunting trip.

State troopers believe he must have swerved to avoid hitting an animal, causing the car to roll. His seat belt saved his life, allowing him to breathe as he hung upside down.

A trucker and his wife eventually discovered the wreck, and drove to an emergency phone to call for help. Brenden was removed from the crushed vehicle with special cutting tools, and was hastened to the Missoula hospital.

"As a mom, it's like the worst nightmare you can ever have," Jodie said. "When you get that call, they don't tell you if your son's alive. They tell you he was breathing when he left in the ambulance."

No drugs or alcohol were involved in the accident, she added.

The family has been inundated with concerns from friends, she said, more than she knew he had.

But it's no surprise, given Brenden's endless community endeavors. He just earned his Eagle Scout title this summer, and had been a youth leader for several years at Lake City Community Church.

He participated in local theater productions, and had been on his high school's cross country and swim teams, as well as a member of the chamber choir.

Around his pre-med course load at college, he was tutoring friends and training for Ironman.

Laura Little, close family friend who followed Jodie on the drive to the hospital, added that several friends from Carroll College have already visited Brenden.

"Anytime we're in the room, it's only positive talk," Little said. "We talk to him just like everybody's always talked to him."

Jodie, a self-taught artist, said her husband, Ken, a civil engineer, just started with a new company. They have health insurance, she said.

Folks who want to show support can make donations at any Wells Fargo Bank, with checks written to Brenden's Angels. Contributions can also be mailed to Wells Fargo at 204 West Hayden Ave., Hayden, ID, 83835.

The family is also posting updates about Brenden's condition at www.caringbridge.org/visit/brendennichols, and on a Facebook page.

"Thank you for everyone's well wishes and prayers," Jodie said.

Brenden's younger brother Morgan is struggling without his big brother for advice, she added.

"He's been listening to Brenden's phone message, to listen to his voice," she said.

The family has been coaching Brenden through this like he's fighting through an Ironman competition, Jodie said.

The first 72 hours was like the swim portion, she said. Now he's on to a long, winding bike ride.

He'll make it, she said. And his family will be waiting for him at the finish line.

"He's likely to get flat tires, but slow and steady wins the race," Jodie said.