While Friday brought homecoming festivities for the Panthers, the day also marked one month since quarterback Ethan Asher was seriously injured in a rollover. As Panthers showed their orange-and-black team spirit for homecoming, it was evident that Asher remained on their hearts and minds, as fans painted his No. 3 on their faces and wore Team Ethan shirts.

Asher recently awoke from a coma and is showing signs of improvement.

“Ethan was not supposed to leave the scene alive, but God has another plan,” his parents Tiffani and Andy Asher wrote in a Facebook post. “Ethan was not supposed to walk again, but God has another plan. Ethan’s brain trauma was so severe he may not talk again, but God has another plan.”

Soon after he woke up, a nurse asked Asher who Tiffani was; he replied, “Mmmmm oooooo mmmmmm.”

On Friday, Asher ate a pancake — his first solid food since the Aug. 27 accident.

“... For a guy that could win any food eating contest at a local fair, we can’t even imagine how good that was,” his parents wrote.

He also was able to take an actual shower and helped wash his own hair. Last week, he sat in a wheelchair almost every day.

“First and foremost, Praise be to God who deserves all the glory in this journey,” Tiffani and Andy wrote when sharing the news of Asher’s progress.

Since the Aug. 27 accident, support for Asher and his family has poured in from around Wyoming and beyond, with sports teams, fans, families, businesses and others raising money to help the family with medical bills and other expenses.

“We thank you again for all your prayers, support and for going on this journey with us,” the Ashers wrote. “And for most of all believing that God is Not Done!”

Asher remains hospitalized in Billings and still can’t have visitors; he needs to have noise and light kept down.

“Ethan still has a lot of agitation and frustration, but he is learning to calm himself down most times without medication, if we talk him through it and pray with him,” his parents wrote.

They also are finding out he has more fractures than what they first knew of.

“Nothing too serious but definitely painful, including a fractured sternum,” the Ashers wrote.

Asher was driving to Powell High School for the second day of his senior year when he crashed on Lane 9. He suffered serious injuries to his aorta, head and back.

An MRI later showed that Asher’s spinal cord had been cut in two, but “then the town of Powell and beyond, prayed for a miracle!” Tiffani said.

“Folks, God showed up!” she continued. “God knit Ethan’s spinal cord back together. God performed a miracle, not the doctors, not me, not even our prayers.”

New Life Church of Powell set up a benevolence fund for the Ashers. To donate online, visit newlifepowell.com/giving and click on “Donate here,” then select “Asher Benevolence Fund.” Cards can be sent to: The Asher family C/O New Life Church of Powell, P.O. Box 782, Powell, WY 82435 or dropped off at the church, located at 185 S. Tower Blvd. in Powell.

The Ashers are posting updates about Ethan in the Facebook group #EthanStrong.