When Christa Lilly – a Colorado woman who slipped into
a coma over 6 years ago as a result of a heart attack and stroke
– recently regained consciousness, she had doctors baffled.
Although Ms. Lilly has since relapsed, doctors have labeled her
unexplained return to consciousness a miracle.
This was not the first time Ms. Lilly awakened from her coma.
Since falling into a vegetative state Lilly has been awake for
a total of 12 days. Doctors have been unable to explain why Lilly
is able to regain consciousness, or predict the next time she
will awake.
Ms. Lilly's story brings to mind one of the most remarkable and
highly publicized cases of a person in a long-term vegetative
state. Terri Schiavo was starved to death in March of 2005 after
a Florida judge ordered her feeding tube to be removed. Schiavo
had been in a "persistent vegetative state" for years
following a stroke, and while her family insisted she responded
to their presence, doctors determined that she would likely never
recover.
Doctors insist that Ms. Lilly's case was not as severe as Ms.
Schiavo's. However, they still cannot explain the bouts of consciousness
that Christa Lilly has had over the years. In an interview for
Channel 11 KKTV, Lilly's neurologist, Dr. Randall Bjork, commented
on Ms. Lilly's bizarre awakenings by saying that he "would
predict this would publicize the minimally conscious and perhaps
more reporting of the cyclical awakenings."
Lilly's mother – and primary caregiver – Minnie Smith,
says she is thankful for any time she is able to spend with her
daughter. "The good Lord let me know she's alright, he brings
her back to visit every so often and I'm thankful for that,"
Smith said.
