03 December 2023 , 11:55
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A mum has woken up from a five-year coma after a horrific car crash - leaving medics stunned.
Jennifer Flewellen had the devastating smash back in 2017. She was driving in Niles on the M139 when crossed eastbound lanes and hit a pole on the roadside. She was found unconscious at the scene and was rushed to Lakeland Hospital by ambulance where doctors believed she would never awake from her coma.
But on August 25, 2022, she amazed medical staff became conscious again while in hospital and was able to make it to her son Julian's football game in October.
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Jennifer Flewellen was found unconscious at the scene and was rushed to Lakeland Hospital (WNDU 16 News Now)Peggy Means, her mum, told WNDU: "Nobody expected her to wake up. We were told all along that she has anoxia and that the brain damage, she'll never wake up, but you never say never."
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Lifelong friend, Sara Macon, said: "Just having the opportunity to have her here to support him and letting everyone know that she is thriving and she's continuing to get better, and we're just still in shock that it's even possible that she's here. I think what's been a driving force is being able to watch her kids. But really, her mom has been with her.
"Her mom has been an incredible caretaker and has been with her every single day since her accident, and has been determined to get her home, and after six years, she's finally back home."
No-one expected Jennifer to wake up from her coma (WNDU 16 News Now)Jennifer's daughter enrolled her sons in a football team. She said: "I don’t want my kids on the streets I want them in sports and she really pushed them, and she was a big screamer. Everybody that knew Jenn, she was very loud. They (her kids) used to say; I couldn’t even hear my coach, Mom; you were louder than the coach." She has spent time in several hospitals across different states in the US and is expected to be moved to Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital located in Grand Rapids to start learning to walk again. Means said: "She was accepted to go to Mary Free Bed."
Jennifer will require help with her speech (WNDU 16 News Now)Means said: "She couldn't get therapy back [when she first woke up] then because she wasn't ready for it. I knew it was three hours a day, so I said we're not going to try it too soon because you've got to be ready for it, but she's ready now. Any accomplishment, I mean, to be able to sit up on her own, you know, small things that we all take for granted,
She added: "They'll help with her speech. It's frustrating for her, and it would be for all of us; you want to be able to interact with people. So, the ultimate goal is to walk, with so many more goals in between.
The mum amazingly attended a football game where her sons were playing after waking (WNDU 16 News Now)"The publicity helped, you know, people reached out and became more aware of her, and what a miracle I already knew she was, but to share it with other people and to know miracles do come true; I mean, they really do."