Here is the latest Rusty Burke update from Bill “Indy” Cavalier:

"Rusty woke up!" were the first words Shelly spoke to me tonight when she called.

- He was more alert looking today, too. When he was watching the First Methodist Church of Cross Plains' service this morning on You Tube, he recognized the Pastor.

- When his brother Mike walked into the room today, Shelly said "Wave to Mike" and he did.

- When two of his nurses entered , Shelly said the same thing and he waved to both of them.

- One of the nurses asked "how are you?" he said "Good."

Rusty is continuing to try and talk and while it's still indecipherable speech for right now, his ability to form words is coming back. Big step.

The next hurdle is passing the swallow test and they can remove the feeding tube.

But this is great news and shows significant progress. These baby steps will turn into real steps.

Nice way to end the weekend. I'll keep you posted as I learn more. Your continued prayers, good vibrations and healing thoughts are appreciated (and nice to see some results from them!)

Indy Bill Cavalier

Now we’re talkin’! After the first several weeks of stasis and very slow improvement, this is definitely a leap forward. Keep sending those good vibes Rusty’s way, sword-brothers! Previous DMR reports on Rusty’s condition can be found here and here.