AURORA, Colo. — No one is looking forward to the start of the Denver Nuggets season more than Tyler and Bryan Ranzenberger.
“It’ll be really nice watching,” Tyler said.
“Yeah, we love it," said Bryan, Tyler's dad. "Always have been watching it through up and down.”
But the highs of last season were no match for the lows soon to come for the Ranzenberger family.
“It’s just not every day that the sheriff knocks on your door," Bryan said.
On March 14, Tyler and his mom, Christy, got into a car crash. Christy didn’t make it.
Tyler was in UCHealth’s ICU on a ventilator with a spinal and hip fracture and a traumatic brain injury to navigate. With such severe injuries, initially they were unsure if he would make it.
"It’s emotional," Bryan said. "You just pray and hope for good outcomes. And there’s a sense of feeling that we were in good hands."
The staff of nurses and doctors at UCHealth helped guide Tyler through.
“Even though I have, like, a very small memory, I still remember the nurses helping me out a lot,” Tyler said.
Weeks in the hospital spilled into months of rehab and physical therapy. Recovery came slowly for Tyler. As he and his family started to heal after the crash, Tyler and his dad watched the NBA Finals from home - ready to cheer the Nuggets on to a win.
Off the court, Nuggets guard Christian Braun helped cheer Tyler on, sending him a video to help encourage his recovery.
“I just wanted to tell you to stay strong. We’re all fighting with you. Hope you get healthy soon. Hope you get to watch all the games," Braun said in his video to Tyler.
“Yeah, it was really cool seeing that," Tyler said. "It was kind of cool just seeing how he had time to send that even though he’s in the middle of playoffs and he could still do that, reach out to me. It was a small gesture for him but it really meant a lot to me. It was really cool seeing that."
Now, seven months after that crash, Tyler and Bryan made their way back to UCHealth to say thank you to the staff that helped save Tyler's life.
Stopping by to say hello, this time in person, Braun joined Tyler and Bryan to help them relive the Nuggets parade experience they missed. Virtual reality headsets helped bring them right into the excitement.
“I wasn’t able to be there in person, but I saw a lot of clips on social media, seemed really hyped and everything. Like I seen people cracking beers, throwing it everywhere,” Tyler said.
“I just remember the energy in the city was off the charts. Just to see everybody happy was pretty cool,” Braun said.
The team even brought a piece of that victory into the room for the Ranzenbergers to see -- the Larry O'Brien championship trophy sitting front and center.
That Finals win became a piece of Nuggets and Denver history. The same win helped Bryan and Tyler process the loss of Christy.
“Watching the Nuggets, watching you guys win it all, it did make a difference," Bryan said.
"To hear that we helped him through something is awesome," Braun said. "And we do it for fans and we do it for moments like this, so to be able to talk to you guys in person obviously means a lot to me. This is pretty much what we do it for. This means more to me than a lot of wins."
Grief is still present in the Ranzenbergers' lives, but they're finding their way through it together day by day. Both are now ready for a new season to begin.
“It’ll be fun. Looking forward to it for sure,” Bryan said.
SUGGESTED VIDEOS: Sports