Many of us perform a million simple tasks as part of our everyday routine, from tying our shoes to brushing our teeth.

Ashlee Stokes, 16, is learning how to walk again.

The Slidell teenager came home in December after spending nearly seven months in four different hospitals, recovering from injuries sustained in a head-on collision with an allegedly drunk driver last May.

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Only 15 at the time of the accident, she was trying out her learner’s permit with a family friend. She spent several weeks in a coma, and it was October before she began to speak. She celebrated her 16th birthday at Touro Hospital in November.

Surrounded by family and friends, the former Northshore High School cheerleader immediately began a daily round of therapy sessions, both at home and with the Neuroscience Institute at Northshore Regional Medical Center. Her mom, Karen, has a video taken with her Blackberry of Ashlee using the Lokomat, a machine that uses robot-assisted walking therapy to “retrain” the nervous system in patients that have suffered brain or spinal cord injury, stroke or other neurological diseases and injuries.

“I watch this over and over again,” said Karen. “She’s holding her head up so high, it’s so beautiful to see.”

Ashlee sees a speech therapist, a physical therapist, and a teacher to evaluate her skill level. She had just finished the ninth grade at the time of the accident, and the instructor, Tracy Maus, said Ashlee currently is at about the eighth grade level.

Her physical therapist, Beth Lanson, said Ashlee is determined to continue regaining her abilities, and sees great improvement every day.

“She pops right up when we practice walking,” said Lanson. “Her left side is still weak, but we’re seeing good control and flexibility over a lot of her movements.”

In halting speech, Ashlee said there are two things at the top of her list of goals.

“To walk by myself again,” she said. “To write, too.”

Callan Gill of Bush, the 23-year-old alleged drunk driver of the car that hit Ashlee, was arraigned in January, and she pleaded not guilty to a felony charge of first-degree vehicular negligent injury, as well as a misdemeanor charge of vehicular negligent injury.

According to Rick Wood, spokesman for the St. Tammany Parish District Attorney’s Office, the practice is not unusual among defendants, who often plead not guilty in order to proceed with a trial.

A motions hearing, in which lawyers for both the defense and the prosecution meet to discuss various cases on the docket, was set for Feb. 27, and Gill’s trial was slated to begin last Monday.

She failed to appear at either meeting. A warrant was issued for her arrest, and sheriff’s deputies took her into custody Tuesday afternoon, said Wood.

Karen Stokes was a realtor for almost 10 years, and quit her job to take care of Ashlee.

She feels, given the current economic climate and mortgage crisis, that things have a way of falling into place. She and Ashlee’s father, David, have a standing Friday night date, in which family members stay with Ashlee and her little sister, Megan, while the couple takes a few hours of private time and reconnect.

Every now and then, flashes appear of the girl Ashlee used to be before the accident. When asked if she would she would help Megan with upcoming cheerleading tryouts, her answer is, “a lot,” and accompanied by a crafty smile.

According to Karen, one of the therapists, the parent of a Slidell High School student, gently ribbed her about the rival schools during a recent session.

“She told me to bring her NHS megaphone the next time,” said Karen. “She’s in there, our girl.”

To find out more about Ashlee’s progress or to make a donation, go to www.ashleestokes.com.