Well-known automotive business owner and avid horse and buggy driver William ?Cheese? Ray is out of the Intensive Care Unit after suffering a brain aneurysm in early December.

Mr. Ray, 80, was flown to Mass General Hospital in Boston, where he underwent surgery for the aneurysm.

?He?s now on the respiratory floor, they?re weaning him off the ventilator,? said his daughter, Sharon Davis.

?His eyes are open, he squeezes your hand, he knows we?re there,?she said. ?He?s confused, but he?s not talking yet. But the prognosis is good ? it?s just going to take a long time.?

Mr. Ray will eventually be moved to the Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital in Boston, she added.

His wife, 77-year old Josie Ray, was knocked down by a mugger at the Southampton Post Office in February, and has been in and out of a coma ever since.

She returned to the Island in October and is still here, said Ms Davis. ?Nothing?s changed with her.

?We are hanging in there, doing the best we can do,? she said. ?We?re there for the duration, as long as it takes.?