The human mind is still not fully understood and perhaps never will be. The complexities within the brain and how it functions is one of the most mysterious, unpredictable wonders in todays world.
Perhaps a lesson to those that encouraged the plug be pulled on Terry Shiavo.
Ladies and gentlemen, meet Christa Lilly, a woman who spent 6 years in a coma and has awoken, much to the surprise of her doctors, who are calling it a miracle.Doctors call it a miracle. A Southern Colorado woman was in a vegetative state for more than six years, but now, she's talking for the first time. She spoke exclusively to 11 News.
Christa Lilly had a heart attack then a stroke. That's the last thing she remembers. It was November of 2000, when Lilly slipped into a vegetative state, which is essentially like a coma, but with the eyes open. Lilly was unconscious and unaware of her surroundings. Now, for the first time in six and a half years, she's awake, alert, and talking. "I think it's wonderful. It makes me so happy," Lilly tells us.
The last time Lilly was aware of the world around her, Bill Clinton was in office and the September 11th attacks hadn't even happened. Lilly was also surprised to find out her youngest daughter is now 12. "It's kinda exciting," Chelcy says. She’s Christa’s daughter. And she's also a grandmother of three, that's new too. "Seeing her talking," Latiana says, is the greatest gift of all. She's 6-years-old and the oldest of the grandchildren.
“To come back out of it... God is good," Minnie Smith, Lilly’s mother, says. She has been taking care of her all these years. She says this past Sunday, her prayers were answered. "Every morning, I always check on her when I wake up, before I go to the bathroom. I always say, ‘Hi baby, how are you doing?’ She said, ‘I'm fine’ and that's when I knew she was awake." A two-word answer that changed everything.
Lilly says her biggest frustration is learning how to talk again. "I've been eating cake." Eating is no problem for this woman, who had been kept alive by a feeding tube.
“This is a miracle,” Lilly's neurologist, Dr. Randall Bjork, tells us. He checked to see her how her brain is functioning. He says he's as surprised as everyone else. "This is all mystical and I can't explain it."
Uttering her first sentences in more than 6 years, Christa has a lot of catching up to do.
Lilly's mom says her daughter has awakened 4 other times in the past, but not completely, not like this. There's a chance Lilly could slip back into her vegetative state, but the family is hoping she's back for good.
Some stories just gotta make you smile.
This one does. Congratulations Ms. Lilly and family.
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