A student has been dubbed a ‘walking miracle’ after wiggling her toe just moments before her life-support machine was to be turned off.
Sam Hemming suffered horrendous head injuries when she was involved in an horrific motorway crash that left her brain dead and with ‘no hope of recovery’ reports the Daily Mail.
The impact of the crash caused 22-year-old Sam’s head to smash through the window and hit the central reservation, taking her left ear off and breaking four bones in her neck.
Surgeons operated on Sam for six hours before placing her in a medically-induced coma, but 19 days later she showed no signs of recovery and doctors advised her parents that she was brain dead.
But as Sam’s family gathered around her bedside to say their farewells something incredible happened.
Sam’s mum Carol said:
They usually give a patient three attempts to see if they can breathe on their own before switching off but before they switched it off for a final time her big toe wiggled.
She had literally come back from the dead. If she hadn’t wiggled her toe she wouldn’t be here today.
Doctors are totally in shock. You see the specialised surgeons, paramedics and police and they look at Sammy and you see their mouths fall open.
And Sam has continued to defy doctors – just eight weeks later she has returned home and is starting to walk again.
The side of Sam’s brain that wasn’t damaged in the accident isn’t used by most people, but miraculously hers has developed into speech and movement – causing excitement among neurosurgeons.
She now has daily physio and is receiving treatment for post traumatic stress disorder while doctors work to help her brain develop more functions.
Sam says she can’t remember the crash, but is hugely grateful to the medical staff who saved her life.
She said:
When I look at the pictures of me in the coma it seems unreal and when I hear that my toe saved me it’s amazing.
I can walk in short bursts and I have a walking frame and wheelchair to help me when I’m feeling weaker.
Sam says she still wants a career in law – if she can bounce back from those horrific injuries, that shouldn’t be a problem.
