The miracle of Jennifer Flewellen: For five years she was in coma and hope had fled, then her son needed her
NILES, MICHIGAN: Jennifer Flewellen, 41, met with a near-fatal car crash on September 25, 2017, that left her in a coma. Five years later, on August 25, 2022, she miraculously regained consciousness, recovering fast enough to attend her son Julian's football game at Niles High School in October.
On the night of the accident, Flewellen was driving on the M139 in Niles, when she lost control and collided with a utility pole on the side of the road, according to the Daily Mail.
On being found unconscious at the scene, she was rushed to Lakeland Hospital, where doctors opined that she would never awaken from her coma. However, Flewellen managed to prove them wrong half a decade later.
Jennifer Flewellen's family and friends react to her recovery
Peggy Means, Flewellen's mother, reportedly told WNDU, "Nobody expected her to wake up. We were told all along that she has anoxia and that the brain damage, she'll never wake up, but you never say never."
Flewellen encouraged her three sons to take up sports, added Means.
"She said, 'I don’t want my kids on the streets; I want them in sports'. And she really pushed them, and she was a big screamer. Everybody that knew Jenn, she was very loud. They (her kids) used to say, 'I couldn’t even hear my coach, Mom; you were louder than the coach'."
At the football match, Flewellen's lifelong friend Sara Macon told the outlet, "Just having the opportunity to have her here to support him (her son) and letting everyone know that she is thriving and she's continuing to get better, and we're just still in shock that it's even possible that she's here."
"I think what's been a driving force is being able to watch her kids. But really, her mom has been with her. Her mom has been an incredible caretaker and has been with her every single day since her accident, and has been determined to get her home, and after six years, she's finally back home," she added.
Jennifer Flewellen is recovering from surgery
Flewellen did the rounds of multiple hospitals in different states on her road to recovery. Flewellen is set to move into the Mary Free Bed Rehabilitation Hospital in Grand Rapids soon. There she will begin to re-learn the process of walking.
"She couldn't get therapy back (when she first woke up) then because she wasn't ready for it. I knew it was three hours a day, so I said we're not going to try it too soon because you've got to be ready for it, but she's ready now," stated Means.
"They'll help with her speech. It's frustrating for her, and it would be for all of us; you want to be able to interact with people. So, the ultimate goal is to walk, with so many more goals in between," she added.
"The publicity helped, you know, people reached out and became more aware of her, and what a miracle I already knew she was, but to share it with other people and to know miracles do come true; I mean, they really do."
