Mom Wakes up from Coma to Have Her Heart Broken after Seeing How Much Her 3 Little Kids Have Grown

A mother of three missed five years of her children's milestones while in a coma. While many people believed she would not survive, she miraculously woke up.

On September 25, 2017, Michigan native Jennifer Flewellen got involved in a car accident. Then35, she had dropped off her three sons, Skylar, Daeton, and Julian, at school in the morning and was on her way to work at Bittersweet Pet Resorts.

While on the way, Flewellen hit a utility pole, and according to a news report from a local radio station, neither speed nor alcohol were factors in the crash that left her unresponsive.

For nearly five years, she was in a coma, and her mother, Peggy Means, was by her side, visiting almost every day. Means believed her daughter would eventually wake up, while others were skeptical.

Flewellen Woke up from a Coma after a Joke

Flewellen reportedly awoke from the coma on August 25, 2022, and it is all thanks to her beloved mother who told her a joke, and she laughed.

In a December 2023 interview, Means recalled the miracle, and admitted when her daughter woke up, she was afraid at first "because she was laughing, and she had never done that."

Means shared that she recorded the moment her child got out of the coma and sent the clip to family and friends. The following day, Flewellen's sons went to visit her. Her youngest child, Julian, whom she nicknamed "Juju," remembered her eyes lighting up after seeing and acknowledging him. "But when she actually found out our ages and things like that, it broke her heart. She started to cry," he said.

Julian was 11 when his mother got involved in the accident, and it was hard for her to learn that he is now 17 and a junior. Meanwhile, his older brothers Skylar and Daeton are now aged 21 and 19 and have since graduated high school.

Julian divulged that they had already talked to their mother about the time she had missed and that she had found it upsetting. And so, they try to refrain from starting the conversation.

When Flewellen woke up, she could not speak and only nodded. Her mother explained that she slept a lot at first after coming out of the coma but that as months progressed, she got stronger and became fully awake.

Moreover, Flewellen's physician, Dr. Ralph Wang, at Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital, revealed in the same interview, "This is so rare. Not just waking up but making progress. Maybe 1-3% of patients wake up and make progress this far out."

Flewellen Beat the Odds

According to Means, after informing everyone that her daughter was finally awake, most did not believe her. Even some of the hospital staff doubted Flewellen, now 41, would make progress after waking up.

Doctors advised her mother to switch off the machines, but she refused to believe that it was the end. The medical professionals predicted that even if Flewellen woke up, she would never be able to speak or walk.

This left her best friend, Sarah Macon, petrified as she believed that Flewellen would die and had already prepared cards to give to her loved ones at her funeral. However, the loving mom made a remarkable recovery.

Means ensured that her child got speech therapy after getting out of the coma, but she was not ready for physical therapy right after. Currently, she can neither walk, get dressed, or feed herself, and her speech is limited.

In November 2023, Dr. Wang divulged in a separate interview that Flewellen would be staying with them at the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids, Michigan, for three to four weeks for therapy sessions.

The medical staff is confident enough that Flewellen would be able to regain her mobility and perform typical tasks such as putting on socks by herself.

Dr. Wang added that if their patient manages to get herself into a wheelchair, it would be a great advantage because, by then, her mother would be able to help her get out of bed. After her stay, Flewellen could join an outpatient program or opt for a home-based therapy program and start progressing with a walker.

Read more about a woman who gave birth during brain surgery and reunited with her baby after waking up from a coma.