KENNEWICK — Six weeks after being critically injured in a North Carolina crash, a Kennewick soldier's family still is waiting for him to wake up and talk.

Caleb Darling, 23, is out of a coma, breathing on his own and moving his arms and legs but hasn't spoken or opened his eyes, said his mother-in-law, Joy Bankston of Kennewick.

"As of (Sunday), he's not in a coma any longer, he's just not awake," Bankston said. "He hasn't woken up yet. The doctors said his brain is healing, but they still don't know what extent of brain damage he has. They won't know ... until he wakes up."

Bankston's daughter, Kathleen, has been by her husband's side at Pitt County Memorial Hospital in Greenville, N.C., since the Feb. 10 crash. She's been comforted by friends and family -- Bankston spent a month in North Carolina and Caleb's mother, Kathy Massengale, left last Thursday -- and is getting support and keeping people posted through an online blog.

"I'm just so incredibly proud of her because she is holding up so well," Bankston said of her daughter. "She's just amazing me. If it was me, I probably would have fallen completely apart."

Kathleen, also 23, suffered minor injuries when their car slammed into a tree. Caleb, who also goes by Cale, swerved to avoid hitting a teenage boy who pulled out of a driveway in front of him, but lost control when he went into the gravel on the side of the road and hit the tree.

The driver's side of the car sustained the most damage and its roof caved in on Cale's head, Bankston said. In addition to the head injury, Cale had a broken femur, facial, clavicle and pelvis fractures and a severely damaged optical nerve in his left eye.

Many of his injuries have healed, and the doctor said all of his organs are healthy and functioning like those of a healthy 23-year-old, Bankston said.

"He's healing physically. It's just his mind we're concerned about," she said.

They also won't know whether he'll be able to see out of his left eye until he wakes up.

"Everything now is dependent on him waking up," she said. "Just surviving that accident, it's a miracle."

Cale is now considered a 10 on the Glasgow Coma Scale, a neurological scale used to assess consciousness, Bankston said. The scale goes from 3, which is deep unconsciousness, and 15, which is awake and talking.

Cale was an 8 for a really long time, she said, but he has improved to a 10, which means he's conscious but not fully aware of what's going on.

He's not following commands yet but is moving his arms, head and both legs -- he recently discovered he could move his left leg -- and he keeps pulling out his tubes and IVs.

According to a blog update written by Cale's mother, he is starting to feel more things because after the nurse put antibiotic drops in his eye, he reached up to try to rub it. He also scratched his nose and picks up and holds a small squishy ball Kathleen bought for him to keep his hands occupied, she said.

"His outside is healing great, and the inside is taking longer, but I know it's happening," Kathleen wrote in a weekend blog post.

Today, Cale is expected to be transferred to WakeMed Hospital in Cary, N.C., which specializes in the stage of coma Cale is in and will get him prepared for rehabilitation once he awakes, Bankston said.

Kathleen already has been set up with a motel room across the street from the hospital, and the military is covering the room's cost, she said.

Cale, a 2004 Kennewick High graduate, is an Army sergeant and was stationed at Fort Drum, N.Y. He was in Afghanistan as an intelligence analyst and returned to Kennewick from his second tour at Christmas.

He was set to be discharged from the Army on April 24, but the Army since has canceled his final leave and put him back on active duty, Bankston said. That means the family can receive additional assistance through the military and Cale's medical care is covered, she said.

The couple were heading to Beulaville, N.C., to visit Kathleen's brother for a day, then planned to take a train to the Tri-Cities to visit friends and family, pack up the rest of their belongings and drive back to North Carolina, Bankston said. Kathleen had lived in Kennewick with her mother while Cale was in Afghanistan.

Kathleen will continue to update the blog caledarling.blogspot.com. Donations to help cover some of her expenses can be made directly through PayPal on the blog.

Bankston said her daughter and the rest of Cale's loved ones are grateful for the thoughts and support people -- some complete strangers -- have left on the blog.

"It's just been an amazing thing for me to see the amount of people who have shown their concern and love and are praying for him," she said.

-- Paula Horton: 509-582-1556; phorton@tricityherald.com