William (Cheese) Ray is on the long road to recovery after suffering an aneurysm in early December last year.

The 80-year-old automotive business owner and avid horse and buggy driver is undergoing rehabilitation at the Spalding Rehabilitation Hospital in Massachusetts.

?He?s starting to speak a little and getting some movement back but after an aneurysm he has to learn to speak and walk again,? said his grandson Daniel Greenslade.

?He had a tracheotomy and they?re trying to wean him off it and every now and then when they take it out, he can say a couple of words,? he added.

Mr. Greenslade said the recovery would be long and he did not know when his grandfather would be returning to Bermuda.

?The recovery is coming along as good as we can hope for.?

Mr. Ray?s wife, Josie, who was knocked down by a purse-snatcher a year ago in February is in Bermuda but is still in a coma. The family does not expect her to get any better.