Whitfield was on his way to work on Interstate 5 when a state trooper lost control of his patrol car. The collision left Whitfield crushed between the trooper's car and a pickup.

It left him with a broken back, and plastic surgeons had to reconstruct the inside of his mouth and worked to save an eye.

You wouldn't recognize Lenoard Whitfield, but chances are, you've seen his work.

He and others created glass balls that were left on the beach at Golden Gardens Park to remember victims of the September 11th terror attacks.

"There's loss of strength everywhere, so he's fighting to, he can't stand by himself, everything's with a walker," said his mom, Alice Whitfield "They're trying to get him back walking."

Renee Pound, his partner in life and in business, is at Whitfield's side at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

"It's a chunky road right now, but it will be paved out things are going to be fine and Lenoard's not, he hasn't gone anywhere, so he'll be back," Renee said.

Renee said Lenoard is her other half at Art By Fire in Ballard. Piecing together what the doctors told her about his recovery, she said it may be about a year before he can come back to work full time.

"There are a lot of things, that we all take for granted because we go to our jobs everyday, but once that job's done and you can't go, everything dries up," she said. "But he has really good friends, family and this really good support team."

Members of that team -- local artists -- are donating their works to raise money to cover Lenoard's bills while he's in the hospital.

Renee and Alice said the state patrol apologized to them and is making sure Leonard's medical bills are covered.

Trooper Nick King is back on the job, but is not assigned to patrol duty.

The state patrol said they hope to get King through required training and performance and mental evaluations, to get him back out on patrol by October.

A benefit for Lenoard Whitfield is planned for Friday, September 8, during the Art Walk in Issaquah. It's from 6:00 to 9:00 pm at Art By Fire's store in Issaquah, at 195 Front Street.

Donated works will be on sale and all of the money made will go to help Lenoard get back on his feet.