MUSCATINE, Iowa — With blinks, Josh Miller answers his caretakers’ questions and his family’s prayers.

Miller, 30, of Wilton, has been a patient since Feb. 14 at On With Life, a rehabilitation center in Ankeny, Iowa. He has been in a coma since Jan. 22, when the sport utility vehicle he was driving collided with a semitrailer on Interstate 80 near Iowa Highway 1. The accident killed his wife, Meghan Van Zandt Miller, 33, and their unborn son. Their 10-month-old daughter, Tenley, who was injured in the accident, has since been released from the hospital and is being cared for by relatives.

“He’s not completely out of the coma,” Muscatine’s Dennis Miller said Sunday of his son. “He can respond to yes or no questions by blinking his eyes.”

He said X-rays were taken Friday and sent to doctors at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City, where his son was first treated. The doctors in Iowa City have to determine if the injury to Josh Miller’s spinal cord has healed enough for him to begin physical therapy. Until then, he is limited to being elevated no more than 35 degrees in his bed at On With Life.

“They really want to get him in rehab,” said Dennis Miller. “They think he’s ready.”

Before the accident, Josh Miller was a teacher and coach in Durant. He was a first-team all-state basketball player for Muscatine High School in 1995. He went on to become a four-year all-Midwest Classic Conference player at St. Ambrose University in Daven-port, where he is the second all-time career scoring leader with 2,286 points.

“We’re mildly optimistic,” Dennis Miller said. “We really appreciate (everyone’s) generosity and prayers. The community has been unbelievable. I don’t know how we could thank people for what the community has done.“

Reporter contact information:

Chris Steinbach: 563-262-0535

Chris.steinbach@muscatinejournal.com