Matthew suffered minor injuries. The family's dog Jimmy, a border collie, ran and was later struck and killed by another car on the highway.

After the accident, doctors told Marc Martino that his wife might never be able to move her hands or feet and that regaining basic functions, like chewing, would be a struggle.

But after months in Massachusetts General Hospital and at the Shepherd Center in Atlanta, one of the country's top spinal cord injury Rehabilitation hospitals, Dana's condition improved.

"She was so determined," said her mother, Yvonne Ruscoe. "She proved the doctors all wrong."

When she came back from Atlanta, Dana lived with relatives in North Reading. She finally was able to return to her Methuen home in December after volunteers, with the help of carpenters from the Local 111 union, built a handicapped-accessible ramp onto the family home.

"I hope it will be different in the future. ... I want to be walking again," Dana Martino said. "But I definitely do feel lucky to be alive."

Now, she continues intense Physical Therapy and has even started walking during sessions.

"It's been a long year, but we're getting through it," said Marc Martino. "There's a light at the end of the tunnel now. She's improving every day."

Martino's family is pleased Artis will serve time in jail.

"I feel relieved," said Marc Martino, with his wife and 5-year-old son, Matthew, by his side outside the courtroom. "Given the circumstances, I'm happy to see he was convicted and is going to jail. He needs to sit there and think about what he did."

During a victim's statement in the courtroom, Marc Martino had only a few words for Artis.

"I don't know if you realize what you took away," he said. "You took away a lot."