People can be very quick to dismiss patients in comas. They call them “vegetables” or say they’re incompatible with life. Even worse, some people advocate for euthanasia – claiming the patient is too far gone or would have a poor quality of life.
Thankfully, Jennifer Flewellen’s family didn’t give up on her.
Flewellen entered a coma five years ago after an automobile accident. Her family visited her and loved on her and then one day, her mother told a joke and the rest is history….
“When she woke up, it scared me at first because she was laughing and she had never done that,” Means tells PEOPLE. “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 August 2022 breakthrough was just the first step in a long battle for Flewellen, who is working hard to regain her speech and mobility after being in a cocoon state where time ceased as her brain slowly healed.
“She woke up, but she didn’t completely. She couldn’t speak, but she was nodding,” Means, 60, says. “She would still sleep a lot right at first, but then as the months would go by, she would get stronger and be more awake.”
Now Jennifer is out and about and celebrating her family.
Get the latest pro-life news and information on Twitter. Follow @LifeNewsHQ
The feisty mom reached another big goal in October when she was able to participate in a senior night football celebration with youngest son Julian, 17, at a Niles High School football game.
“She was my biggest supporter,” says Julian, who was 11 when his mom fell into a coma. “So to have my biggest supporter back on the sidelines cheering me on, it was a surreal moment.”
Flewellen remained in a coma for almost five years, during which time her mom Peggy — who only recently retired from her job — stayed by her side, visiting almost every day in the chance that her daughter would one day respond to her.
When it finally happened, Means recorded the moment and quickly sent the video to family and friends. The next day, Julian and his brothers went to the hospital.
“I told her I was Juju and her eyes lit up like, ‘Wow, it’s my Juju bean,'” Julian says, noting his nickname. “But when she actually found out our ages and things like that, it broke her heart. She started to cry.”
Jennifer’s mom describes how even hospital staff thought she would never wake up and never make much progress after she did. The heartwarming story is another reminder to never give up on people.
