It's been nearly a month since Stephen Wirthlin broke his neck in a freak automobile accident in Southern California.

The "recruited walk-on" football player to BYU for this fall was riding in the back seat of a Saturn sedan when the car, which was traveling too fast, hit a bump in the road and rolled over, out of control and off the pavement, crashing into a fence and trees.

At 3 a.m. that morning, his father, Richard, nephew of LDS apostle Joseph Wirthlin, talked to the paramedics at the emergency room.

One of the ambulance personnel told the father that the four boys were extremely lucky. "It's rare that people walk away from something like this," he said.

Stephen, who is a senior at Canyon High School in Canyon Country, Calif., home of BYU redshirt freshman J.J. DiLuigi, suffered a compression fracture of his fifth cervical vertebra. As the car flipped and came to rest and front air bags were deployed, Stephen found himself sitting by part of a tree limb. None of the four teens were ejected. All were wearing seat belts. Stephen has been in a neck brace ever since.

On Thursday, Stephen, with his neck brace, walked on the stage at his school's athletic awards assembly to a standing ovation. There, he was honored as Canyon High's Male Athlete of the Year.

An all-CIF football player, Stephen also excelled in soccer and ran the 100-, 200- and 400-meter events on his school's track team.

"I feel lucky to be alive," Stephen told the local newspaper, The Signal, which circulates in Santa Clara Valley.

One can only imagine how the sight of their son receiving that award hit the Wirthlins.

A fraction of a millimeter one way or another could have ended his life that April 26 night, or seriously injured him to the point of never being able to walk again. Now, doctors told them this week, the brace may come off in two or three weeks.

"There was no damage to the spinal cord, he doesn't have any pain, he had a few bumps and bruises and he was walking around after the accident," said his father. "Once they took an X-ray and saw his neck, they immediately stopped him, made him lay down, cut off his clothes, stabilized his neck and admitted him to the hospital."

Football, however, will be put on the back burner for now. Stephen is restricted from contact sports for the rest of the year. He will grayshirt this fall at BYU, where he will turn 19 and go on an LDS Church mission after fall semester. "When he returns, he should be ready to try to make the team," said Richard.

"Bronco Mendenhall called and assistant Barry Lamb, who recruits the area, stopped in to visit, which meant a lot to Stephen."