Mom of 2 was in coma for months so doctors told family to 'pull the plug'—her mother's stubbornness led to a miracle
Faith has often been highlighted as the invisible power that helps people get through the most unexpected and challenging situations. It also motivates a person not to give up during a seemingly helpless circumstance. A mom was faced with an overwhelming decision when the doctors suggested that she should take her daughter off life support after months of being in a coma. The mom, Kertease Williams, refused to let her daughter, Kertisha Brabson, give up on life so soon, per The Columbus Dispatch.
31-year-old Brabson, who is also a mom to two kids, was in a coma for seven months from late 2018 to early 2019. The woman was glad to be alive after seven months of being in a coma. She returned to her home after proper treatment in the hope of resuming her work as a dental hygienist. "I know nothing about those seven months," the northeastern Ohio mom revealed. Brabson was in a coma after losing consciousness in September 2018, and to her, it felt like a long nap. However, the ordeal was not the easiest on her mom, who was told to take her off life support. "We knew we couldn’t give up. She’s got two little ones waiting on her. God’s hands were all over me, telling me what to do," Williams expressed.
Brabson started to get sick in early 2018. She wasn't feeling well and often experienced fatigue. By September 2018, she had started slurring and her speech had turned unintelligible. Soon enough, her family had to rush her to Alliance Community Hospital. The woman was later moved to Aultman Hospital in Canton. Brabson was already in a comatose condition when she was taken to the Cleveland Clinic from Aultman Hospital and diagnosed with anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. The disease that affected the woman was caused by a virus that makes the body's immune system attack its own brain cells. It leads to seizures, psychiatric symptoms and even cardiovascular complications in some cases. The cause behind the disease was not known.
The daughter also had multiple seizures in a day while she was in a coma. Williams pushed for more aggressive treatment for her daughter. So, she was moved to Ohio State University’s Wexner Medical Center. The center has a Neuro Critical Care Unit and doctors tirelessly worked with Brabson to control her daily seizures and to stop her condition from worsening. The woman was treated at the center for four months, after which she eventually woke up from her coma in April 2019. Dr. Shraddha Mainali, assistant professor of neurology and director of the neurovascular ultrasound lab at Ohio State, was super excited to see the woman recover. Brabson's primary disease is actually treatable, but because of the complications, no one could tell if she would wake up or not.
"Kertisha's case is definitely one of the memorable cases in my career and one of the success stories for our unit as well as the medical community. It is not every day that we get to see a patient wake up after remaining comatose for seven months," Dr. Mainali explained. The woman started receiving physical and occupational rehabilitation after waking up from the coma. She was doing better and recovering slowly. "She was so angry for a while; she wanted to be better right away. I keep telling her it’s going to take time. And I think she realizes that now," Williams expressed.
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This article originally appeared 1 month ago.