Woman Wakes Up Laughing From 5-Year Coma After Hearing A Joke
A Michigan woman who had been in a coma for years woke up laughing after hearing her mother tell a joke at her hospital bedside.
Peggy Means told People that her 41-year-old daughter, Jennifer Flewellen, emerged from her coma in August 2022, nearly five years after a car crash, and her laughter marked the beginning of an extraordinary recovery.
"When she woke up, it scared me at first because she was laughing, and she had never done that," said Means. "Every dream came true. Today's the day I said, 'That door that was closed, that kept us apart, had just opened. We were back.'"
The laughter was just the initial breakthrough for Flewellen, who has since been diligently working to regain her speech and mobility.
"Nobody expected her to wake up," Means told WNDU. "We were told all along that she has anoxia and that the brain damage, she'll never wake up, but you never say never."
Dr. Ralph Wang, her physician at Michigan's Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, told People that it is "so rare" for a person to not only wake up from a coma but also make progress in their recovery afterward.
"Maybe 1-3% of patients wake up and make progress this far out," the doctor said.
This miraculous recovery began after a tragic accident on Sept. 25, 2017, when Flewellen, then 35, hit a utility pole while driving, according to WSJM. Speed and alcohol were not factors in the crash.
Her coma lasted almost five years, during which her mother remained a constant presence by her side. Peggy, who recently retired, visited her daughter almost every day, hoping for a response.
Means recorded the moment when Flewellen laughed and sent the video to family and friends.
Flewellen's journey took another significant stride in October when she participated in a senior night football celebration for the youngest of her three sons, Julian, 17, at a Niles High School football game.
Julian, who was 11 when his mother fell into a coma, said it was a "surreal moment" to have his "biggest supporter" back on the sidelines.
The news of her attending her son's football game led to additional therapy through Mary Free Bed.
Flewellen's recovery, though challenging, has been filled with milestones.
She has been regaining speech and mobility, surprising many who initially doubted the possibility of her progress.
Scripps News shared a video last month of Flewellen doing physical therapy at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation.
As Flewellen continues her journey, Dr. Wang expressed optimism, telling People, "If she can take a few steps, feed herself and communicate more, those would be huge wins."
Means envisions her daughter walking soon and making up for lost time with her boys.
Meanwhile, Flewellen woke up from her coma around the same time a Virginia man awoke from an accident, thinking it was 1993.
In June last year, Andrew Mackenzie, 58, and his wife Kristy, 54, were sent to the ER after a near-fatal accident.
Kristy told People that when her husband first woke up two months after the crash, he had no recollection of their last 29 years together.
But Andrew later recovered and even proposed to Kristy again, leading to the couple renewing their vows in front of their children and grandchildren in North Carolina's Outer Banks on Aug. 29, 2022.
"I don't think anything can stop us," Kristy told the outlet. "Even a car hitting us didn't stop our love."