Missouri Teen Goes Home After Falling Into Ravine, Spending Month in Hospital (Exclusive)

Dakota “Cody” Trenkle Jr. — the teen who went missing for three days before a police dog found him severely injured at the bottom of a ravine in Missouri on July 30 — is home after fighting for his life in a hospital.

The 13-year-old, who survived a 240-foot fall into the ravine, returned to his home in late August before Labor Day weekend for the first time since he went missing on July 27 while skateboarding in Goose Creek Lake.

Due to the fall, Dakota suffered severe head trauma, several brain bleeds, fractures on his skull, deep wounds to his body and weakened kidneys. Dakota was immediately airlifted to a St. Louis hospital and placed in a medically induced coma for two weeks before he woke up.

Dakota and his mother, Stephanie Neely, gave PEOPLE an update on his recovery process since his homecoming.

“I am hopeful to return to school in the very near future and I am counting down the days until I can skateboard again, but I know my brain and skull need to heal,” Dakota says, unafraid of skateboarding despite the incident.

Meanwhile, Dakota’s mother told PEOPLE more about her son’s progress.

“Cody has been doing so well since coming home from the hospital,” Stephanie says. “He does still have some struggles physically with balance, coordination and strength as well as some short-term memory loss.”

“He gets pretty frustrated with both, but we are taking the necessary steps to help him make a full turn around and get back to being 100% Cody,” she adds. “He has quite the extensive therapy and follow-up schedule.”

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Dakota’s healing journey will consist of physical therapy twice a week, weekly occupational and speech therapies, neurology and liver appointments as well as psychiatric visits.

Stephanie previously told PEOPLE in August that upon Dakota waking up from his medically induced coma, he used sign language to tell her a heartwarming message: “I love you.”

“That moment was pivotal to me. It’s made the last couple weeks of stress, heartache, hope, gratitude, sadness, and pain worth it because that small gesture meant my boy was coming back to me,” she said at the time.