Can you imagine losing 27 years of your life? 27 years of memories. 27 years you could have spent with your kids? In what is considered to be quite the miracle, a mother named Munira Abdulla from the United Arab Emirates (UAE) has woken up from a coma after 27 years.
She was seriously injured in a traffic accident in 1991 and ended up in a coma.
A tragic accident
Munira, who was 32 years old at that time, had just picked up her 4 year old son, Omar, from school when the car they were in (driven by her brother-in-law) collided with a school bus.
She was sitting at the back of the car with Omar, and cradled him before the impact.
While trying to protect her son, she suffered serious brain injury but her son was unharmed and only had a bruise on his head.
A miracle
Doctors believed she would probably never open her eyes again, but last year, at age 60, she regained consciousness in a German hospital room.
“I never gave up on her because I always had a feeling that one day she will wake up,” said Omar Webair, now 32.
“I was four when the accident happened, and we used to live in Al Ain. That day, there was no bus at the school to take me home.” he said.
“My mother was sitting with me in the back seat. When she saw the crash coming she hugged me to protect me from the blow.”
Treatment and care
Munira was taken to a local hospital after the accident, and then later transferred to another in London where doctors diagnosed her to be in a minimally conscious state.
She was then returned to the UAE where she was transferred several times due to insurance constraints.
In 2017, she was finally taken to a German hospital after the Crown Prince Court heard the family's story and gave them a grant.
She underwent surgery there to treat her weakened limb muscles as well as physical therapy.
Reunited with her son
Last June, she was seen stirring in her bed when an argument broke out in her hospital room.
“She was making strange sounds and I kept calling the doctors to examine her,” Omar said. “They said everything was normal.”
Three days later, he woke up to the sound of someone calling his name.
“It was her. She was calling my name. I was flying with joy. For years I have dreamt of this moment, and my name was the first word she said,” Omar said, sharing his emotional experience.
She became more responsive, and can now feel pain and have some conversations.
Munira is now receiving treatment in Abu Dhabi, where she is able to communicate “in a very reasonable manner”.
Omar then continued to share:
“I shared her story to tell people not to lose hope on their loved ones. Don’t consider them dead when they are in such a state.”
“All those years, the doctors told me she was a hopeless case and that there was no point of the treatment I was seeking for her, but whenever in doubt I put myself in her place and did whatever I could to improve her condition.”
Source: BBC News
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