The odds were against Gayle Reeves.

Only about 1 percent of the people who suffer the kind of injury he faced April 17 survive long enough to make it to the hospital.

The 73-year-old high school janitor was riding in his son's car when another driver ran a stop sign. His car T-boned the other vehicle at 55 mph.

Reeves was knocked unconscious, and a hole was torn in his heart.

Paramedics kept him alive long enough to get him to the hospital.

He defied the odds but still had a long fight ahead of him.

Of the 1 percent who reach the hospital alive, only about 5 percent make it out.

Reeves expects to be discharged from the College Station Medical Center on Friday.

"I expect him to have a full recovery," said Dr. Chris Gullett, the cardiovascular surgeon who helped save Reeves' life. "He should get over this with no problem."

How did he survive?

"I think God is a pretty good answer to that question," Reeves said.

Reeves arrived at the hospital with fluid around his heart. As he bled, more pressure built up on the organ. Doctors performed chest compressions, but his blood pressure dropped and his heart stopped beating for about 10 minutes.

Gullett inserted a needle into the organ and was able to drain some of the fluid. Then, with a thread similar to fishing line, he sutured shut the hole in the heart.

"I attribute my survival to this wonderful facility, the Fire Department, the paramedics," Reeves said. "Everybody did their job. Everybody knew what they had to do."

He said he didn't remember anything from hours before the accident until he woke up in the rehabilitation center with tubes in his chest. His family had to tell him about how his son pulled the car's dashboard off his own legs to rush to help his father.

Gullett said Reeves has slowly and steadily progressed. He is now walking with a cane but still lacks some energy and has trouble keeping his balance.

His scars are beginning to heal, but he said they still hurt a little. He mostly wants to get back to work.

Reeves lives in the small West Texas town of Kermit, and many of the residents know about the accident. His hospital room was lined with cards, and a poster signed by students from his high school hung on the wall.

He has had family with him around the clock while in the hospital. He and his wife, Mary Ann, will rent an apartment in College Station so he can be close to the hospital while he recovers, but he is eager to return to school and his home wood shop.

"It won't make me stop going," he said. "Accidents are accidents."

His wife had a more somber view.

"It was scary, and it still is," she said. "It makes you wonder as you take a step if it could be your last."